This holiday season…

Black Friday, an endless amount of Sears catalogues and seeing the in-laws have all increased stress in some during the holiday season.  

Many get all too caught up in the hyper-commercialization of the holidays and miss out on things that occur only one season out of the year. This post will be used to reaffirm the joys of this time of year by listing off what you have to look forward to.

1. Eggnog- Sometimes a good glass or eight of eggnog after a long day can brighten spirits. The greatest thing about eggnog is you can practically put whatever you want in it and it still tastes great. For you eggnog purists, maybe a dash of cinnamon is all you need. For you lactose intolerants: sorry. Whatever it is, make sure to indulge while you can.
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas- Poor Charlie Brown. You think you have troubles? Try directing a successful school play with the worst Christmas tree prop known to man, and then do it. Paired nicely with eggnog, this movie will surely get you in the holiday mood. 
3. Family- Pinches on the cheeks usually end early in life except for the unlucky few in the family. This is the great time of year when families converge and pump out endless amounts of food. For some, this is the only time of year to see those family members from far away. Make the most of it and eat while you can. New Year’s resolutions are quickly approaching.
4. Carol of the Bells- If you’re feeling a little tired of Jingle Bells get a grip and crank Carol of the Bells to 11. With Ukrainian roots tracing back to 1916, there is no holiday carol more dramatic and awe-inspiring than this one. This should always be in your back pocket of requests when the neighborhood carolers come knocking. 
5. The Griswold Family- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation reminds us all what happens when we forget to check for squirrels in the Christmas tree. Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, wins the award for the most patient father ever in this one. Your Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Charlie have nothing on what is thrown Mr. Griswold’s way. 

Cherish the moments you have during this holiday season. Sit down and enjoy a glass of eggnog, or watch Charlie Brown prove everybody wrong. The holiday season should be a time of gathering and binge eating not stressing. 

Jour 4250: Walt’s Empire in question with documentary

“Mickey Mouse Monopoly,” a documentary on Disney and the messages in its films, covered everything from racial stereotypes to propaganda.

The documentary inspected underlying messages in Disney movies and racial stereotyping with some characters. The Siamese cats featured in “Lady and the Tramp” were just one example.

What was more shocking than some hidden messages in certain Disney films was how powerful of a corporation Disney has become. In a capitalistic economy it is normal for companies to become large and powerful enough to buy up other companies. “Mickey Mouse Monopoly” focused on Disney gaining media ownership.

Disney now owns a multitude of TV channels including: ABC, ESPN, The History Channel, Military History, A&E TV and Lifetime just to name a few. Those are just the TV channels. Disney also owns plenty of news outlets, a topic of controversy according to the documentary.

One man in the documentary said Disney has made itself virtually inescapable on purpose. For instance, Disney can come out with a movie that isn’t popular or critically successful, but promotes it on each one of their news outlets, magazines, TV channels or websites it now owns, making it seem like the most popular movie of all time.

This wasn’t necessarily controversial. What was most controversial, according to the film, was Disney’s ownership of news outlets. Disney owns television stations in Chicago, Flint, Fresno, Toledo, Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles, Houston and more. Disney also owns countless radio stations including two in the DFW area.

A full list of what Disney owns can be seen here.

One potential problem with a corporation owning so many other news companies and outlets is the potential for unbalanced reporting. It would, for example, be easier for Disney to get away with or purposely not report something that would put the company in a bad light.

“Mickey Mouse Monopoly” focused so much on the messages of Disney films and how certain social or racial groups are portrayed because of how impactful Disney is on kids. Disney’s impact now stretches further than just children. Disney can potentially influence its news outlets and other companies it now owns.

Source:

http://www.yearwithoutdisney.com/what-disney-owns/

Speech! Speech! Speech!

Great speeches are remembered and recited. Boring, mundane speeches are too often forgotten. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mel Gibson yelling “freedom” in “Braveheart” each had plenty of passion. All these speakers knew what they were dealing with and were successful in mobilizing groups of people.

Speeches are also important in business. Speeches are integral components for organizations to effectively communicate to audiences. Speeches not only inform and educate publics, but are also opportunities to establish and reinforce an organization’s brand.

One of the difficulties in public relations is changing behaviors. Attitudes, stances and behaviors can be strong and stable. Nonprofit leaders face this battle each day to keep their organization afloat. They have to constantly motivate sponsors and donors every step of the way in order to be successful.

A key ingredient to a great speech is a dash of revolution. In the business world, this was portrayed by Steve jobs. Jobs excited and revolutionized the world of technology. 

For example, Jobs introduced Apple’s iPad to a crowd on January 27, 2010. In his speech, Jobs raised questions. The questions Jobs asked were logical and some of the same questions consumers had been asking. He spoke as an ordinary person, and appeared as one. He played off the timeless marketing trick of identifying the problem and offering a solution. Jobs kept it simple. His language and presentations were simple and easy to understand. This was an effective style to introduce totally new and revolutionary products to the entire world.

The speech can be seen by clicking this link.

In doing so, Jobs was the face of Apple. It wasn’t some gimmicky mascot or cartoon character; it was the leader of the organization that reinforced Apple’s brand.

Speeches have always held a special relationship with sports. Sometimes a player, coach, owner or manager can become the face or voice of an entire franchise. Tim Tebow, former quarterback of the Florida Gators, became the face of both his team and school. Tebow gave a speech known today as “The Promise” after his team lost to Alabama in 2008. Tebow and the rest of his team didn’t lose a game the entire next season and went on to win the BCS National Championship. This speech alone reinforced the school’s athletic ethic and Tebow became the brand ambassador.

Tebow’s “promise” can be seen here.

 Direct communication has and always will be effective. Whatever the situation may be, delivering a strong, value-centered speech is a great opportunity to spread information or establish an organization’s brand.

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4VxVoYvqOw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBhYxj2SvRI

http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/steve-jobs.jpg

JOUR 4460: Unlocking niche markets with blogging

One major benefit of blogging is tapping into niche audiences. If you are representing a company with a specific product, discovering your niche audience is a must.

Not everyone wants to read about the best independent concerts to see in Dallas, but some do. It is that certain few that must be targeted. Blogging is a proven method for effectively capturing the attention of niche audiences.

 

Marketing a product or communicating with a certain audience isn’t always efficient when sent through traditional, mass media channels. Newspapers and magazines are great places to send press releases and photo opportunities to, but they will not always reach the desired audience. For that, there is blogging.

Blogging is an untraditional yet effective way for a company to reach its desired niche audiences.

Take the outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, as an example. Patagonia runs a separate blog titled “The Cleanest Line.” The blog is filled with pictures and articles of outdoor activities and adventures. This not only reinforces Patagonia’s brand, but also communicates to the niche audience members who may be interested in rock climbing in Darjeeling, India.

“The Cleanest Line” connects Patagonia’s target, niche audience to its products and brand. Patagonia prides itself for being a leader in outdoor sports gear and apparel. Patagonia’s blog shows its products in action. The blog allows members of Patagonia’s niche audience to see customer testimonials, videos and pictures representing the company and its outdoor lifestyle-centered brand.

Fiskars, the scissor company, successfully connects with an even narrower audience than Patagonia. Fiskars created its own blog, Fiskateers, to reach out to its niche audience. Fiskars tapped into a lifestyle, much like Patagonia did, by reaching out to scrapbooking enthusiasts. The blog includes tips and tricks on scrapbooking and how Fiskars scissors can help.

Patagonia and Fiskars both utilized the same simple strategy. Both companies used blogging to capture their niche audiences. They recognized the lifestyles and hobbies their niche audiences were a part of and fit their products into them.

“Guerilla Marketing for Nonprofits,” a book on marketing advice for nonprofit organizations, offers great advice on targeting niche audiences. One of the suggested tips is an old marketing standard: sell a solution, not just a product. Fiskars and Patagonia followed this exact standard when they created their blogs. Perhaps some scrapbook enthusiast is having trouble with cutting designs. Perhaps some rock-climbing enthusiast is having a tough time rappelling. Both companies appealed to the lifestyles of their niche audiences while simultaneously offering their products as solutions. Either way, blogging was the essential tool used in reaching out to niche audiences.

Forbes, Chris. "Seven Keys to Finding Your Nonprofit’s Niche." Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. http://gmnonprofits.com/2011/01/seven-keys-to-finding-your-nonprofits-niche/

http://www.financialcert.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Niche-Marketing.jpg

JOUR 4460: Educating the energy publics

Educating publics is essential to public relations. This is especially essential to industries dealing with complex or even controversial issues.

Energy companies in particular should be educating publics left and right. Energy, renewable or not, has been one of the main economic and political issues of this past year.

Just like any other company or organization, the energy industry needs to be proactive. Oil and gas companies cannot sit and wait for the inevitable opposition to come, and then be blindsided. Renewable energy companies cannot wait for attacks either.

This does not mean attack before you are attacked. This simply means energy companies need to push information out to the public beforehand. This turns energy companies into a proactive rather than reactive mode. Informing publics gives companies the opportunity to set the record straight.

The natural gas industry could have taken on this proactive behavior years ago. Natural gas industries have been under heavy attack for fracking. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of capturing natural gas by injecting pressurized fluid deep into shale rock. The fluid fractures this shale rock, making it easier to retrieve the natural gas. Nonetheless, this has been a particularly controversial practice due to claims of it harming the environment. 

From a public relations standpoint, the arguments given by natural gas companies aren’t strong enough.

According to one PR Daily article, educating publics is most important. Cory Stewart, the author of the article, said the industry’s argument for fracking helping the economy is becoming diluted.

“Talk is growing cheap about jobs and positive economic impacts, and it is time for oil and gas companies to fight fire with fire. It is difficult to maintain support for a project when citizens keep reading misinformation that goes uncorrected from opponents that have a clear and biased agenda,” said Stewart.

The oil and gas industry isn’t the only one needing to push out correct information, however. The renewable, or green energy industry, needs to be taking on the same strategy.

Along with energy, government spending has been another main political issue. The recent Solyndra 

controversy and government subsidized financing for energy companies has created other needs for education and correct information.

Whether the claims on both sides of the industries are true is beside the point. The renewable industry and the oil and gas industry need to push out their own information. Their publics should hear it from them. People want answers. If energy companies do not inform and educate their own publics, then someone else will, even if that information isn’t correct.

Stewart, Cory. "Energy Companies Are Losing the PR War over Fracking." PR Daily News: Public Relations News and Marketing in the Age of Social Media. N.p., 4 Sept. 12. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Energy_companies_are_losing_the_PR_war_over_fracki_12556.aspx

Pictures

http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-10/huge-texas-wind-turbines-will-be-made-china

Wine and cheese or Chuck E. Cheese: social class and consumer behavior

Varied economic classes are normal and nothing out of the ordinary for a capitalistic economy. What is most interesting, however, is how social classes are formed.

Of course there are going to be people who live in different income groups in this country. Somewhere along the way we broke these groups down into lower-class, middle-class, and upper-class.

Just like race, social class is the result of a created system where people categorize themselves or others.

Social class defines the culture and way of life for individuals in certain income categories. Social class tries to predict what certain people do for fun, what they wear, who they hang out with and even what kind of bread they purchase (this one in particular will be discussed later). Social class is a structure people live by according to their economic situation. It is a way for others to identify what their financial status may be.

In my journalism 4250 class, we watched a documentary on social class. People from various upbringings spoke about their behaviors and ways of life.

Much of the documentary featured consumer behavior. An upscale kitchen appliance store was featured at the beginning of the film. One man spoke about some of the brand names and labels on cooking oils. The man said people belonging to higher social classes will be more likely to buy something when it has a fancy sounding Italian name on the bottle, even if they don’t know what it says. The reason behind this, the man explained, is to make them appear more sophisticated or wealthy.

Consumer behavior goes both ways. A food shelter employee in the film received boxes of sourdough buns to give out to needy families and individuals. He said he could not get rid of them because the people who came to the food shelter preferred regular white bread over the sourdough buns. The documentary gave a statistic which showed a strong link between lower-class families purchasing white bread over wheat bread.

Social class is impactful. This was shown in those two examples. Social class influences how we act and what we choose to buy. There are underlying reasons for why an individual may want to buy a bottle of olive oil with an Italian name on it even if the price is significantly higher. Multiple reasons exist as to why we may follow the norms of our social classes. Maybe we want to fit in. Maybe it’s what we were born into and all we know.

For whatever reason we live within our social classes, it gives us an identity and is alive and well in our society.

 

Picture: http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/the-health-benefits-of-olive-oil-ga-4.jpg

 

JOUR 4460: Communicating like a human

Last week I wrote I wrote about fast food companies being on top of their game when it comes to social media. One of the examples included was how a company like Taco Bell, for instance, seems more like a typical Facebook friend rather than belonging to a corporation. Many companies are catching on and following these same behaviors.

Strategically communicating becomes more successful when a company speaks to its audience like a person rather than a company. When a company humanizes its communication, audiences become more attentive, more reactive and more connected. Lastly, humanizing communication ultimately helps support a brand.

Who would want to follow on social media or keep up with an organization that constantly speaks in industry-related jargon or uses financial numbers to communicate? No thanks. Now is the best time for companies to communicate as a human and step away from the boring, monotonous, corporate and legal language. Social media has enabled companies to do so in appropriate and convenient ways. People will read companies’ messages and be more likely to connect with the ones whose language is most like theirs.

Pictures and videos are just a few tools for companies to communicate to audiences in an effective and humanized manner. Audiences are more engaged as they are statistically more likely to read something with a picture or video attached to it. On Twitter, many companies will ask questions, often not even business-related. The strategy is to create and maintain a following.

Humor is another tool many companies are including in their communications. This is great strategy for entertaining and engaging audiences. More and more messages, especially seen on social media sites, are funny and witty.

Ragan, a blog dealing with public relations, marketing and writing, released a post giving tips on how to humanize communication. The post lists numerous tips and strategies on how to make messaging more lively and less boring.

Because today’s messaging is more humanized, companies and organizations can uphold their brands in more creative ways. Nonprofit organizations can share their stories on YouTube. Electronics companies can make more sense of their products through infographics, allowing even the least technologically savvy person to understand something. An NFL team can motivate fans before the weekend’s big game on Twitter.

People now have the resources to be much pickier on what they read. The bottom line is, people will not want to read boring, business-related memos and letters. We now want engaging, creative and humanized messaging from companies and organizations.

Conlin2, Brian. "24 Tips to Humanize Your Brand." Ragan.com. N.p., 30 Oct. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.ragan.com/PublicRelations/Articles/45739.aspx>.

http://www.carltaylor.com.au/is-your-business-card-boring-here%E2%80%99s-4-ways-to-avoid-boring-the-people-you-meet/

JOUR 4250: Feathers, face paint and football

The term “symbolic annihilation” couldn’t apply more appropriately to Native Americans, unless were talking sports.

Native Americans as a group are basically left out of traditional media. This is a group that lacks exposure and is extremely underrepresented in our society. The importance of symbolic annihilation is what happens after the fact. When Native Americans become so underrepresented as a whole, we start to think differently of them. Symbolic annihilation is important because it links this underrepresentation to people thinking this certain group of people must not be important.

Somewhere Native Americans are actually represented, although controversially, is in the world of sports. The Florida State Seminoles, Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Redskins are just a few team names bearing Native American symbols.

Some of these teams have been around for awhile. In fact, some people may claim they have been around so long they barely notice the controversy in it. Well, some Native Americans are raising their own voices against these team names today.

The controversy comes from the fact that many of these teams are stereotyping Native Americans. Some team mascots are shown with feathers in their hair, making it seem like every Native American wore feathers in their hair. Another stereotype may be tomahawk symbols or chants the fans participate in. This, again, goes back to stereotyping Native Americans as a whole. Native Americans who are against Native American mascots say these teams make generalizations out of an entire group and pick certain traits to be important.

In class, our teacher pulled up a website dedicated to the “Fightin’ Whities” an intramural team created in an effort to raise awareness on the stereotyping of Native Americans in sports. Apparently the “Fightin’ Whities” was an intramural team formed by students at the University of Northern Colorado in 2002. Without surprise, it caused quite the stir. That’s exactly what the students wanted, however. The students at Northern Colorado took it upon themselves to act as catalysts for the movement against Native American mascots.

So, how do the teams feel about this? There seems to be more action starting at the lower level. According to a USA Today article, the Washington State Board of Education has been encouraging state schools to change their mascots. The article said 10 schools in the past 10 years have already chosen to do so.

Changes, even at the local level, have been met with resistance. Even some Native Americans are against the movement. The same USA Today article quoted a Native American member of the Makah tribe in Washington saying the movement is “ridiculous.”

Resistance or not, the movement to ban Native American mascots has had momentum. More and more people are talking about it. Schools, for example, are starting to lecture on the subject. I have already had two classes at UNT teach about the movement. From looking at the action taking place at the local level, it will be interesting to see how it affects professional sports in the near future.

Atop the Social Media Food Chain

The fast food industry has certainly figured this social media thing out. Companies like Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Sonic are great models for relationship-building techniques. These companies all lead the scene by following the same thee behaviors: engaging audiences, allowing for two-way communication and reinforcing their brands on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Media Bistro, a blog dealing with journalistic news and events, posted the results of a study focused on fast food chains’ performances on social media sites. Various fast food companies were ranked on how responsive they were to customer’s comments and other social media metrics. The results can be found here.

Engaging audiences can be difficult, especially with so much information at our fingertips. We now search for what we want to read and hear rather than sifting through information or waiting for the nightly news to tell us what happened today.

Fast food companies compete for our ever-dwindling attention spans. In order to capture them, these companies are clever and creative with their social media messaging. Consumers are drawn in by fast food companies asking questions, being humorous and posting pictures. Of course we are more likely to look at pictures than read a description of a new cheeseburger coming out.

Taco Bell, for example, is a serious competitor when it comes to fighting for audience attention. A close look at some of their strategies can explain this.

On Facebook, Taco Bell posts tons of photos of people enjoying their food in interesting ways or places. The company engages consumers by holding numerous social media competitions where fans submit photos of themselves. Many of Taco Bell’s posts are funny and quirky. The company is successful because it acts like a friend you have on Facebook already. Taco Bell stays on top of internet trends and memes making them hip and not so “corporate.”

Lastly, Taco Bell captures our attention because everybody loves free stuff. They know their large, youthful audience. They also know how much appeal a free Doritos Locos Taco has to them. Right now, Taco Bell promises to give the entire country a free Doritos Locos Taco if a base is stolen in the World Series. Now that’s just too easy.

Figuring out what an audience likes, and them catering to them has always worked and will continue to work.

These companies don’t just ask questions to be funny, however. The great thing about social media is it opens up the lines of communication. Facebook and Twitter are great forums to let a company know how you feel. Some companies directly ask for your opinion. Wendy’s asks people on Facebook what flavor Frosty they enjoy more. Thousands of people reply to common posts like these. Wendy’s practically receives instant research results from a large sample of consumers all over the world.

Facebook and Twitter are also great forums for reinforcing a company brand. McDonald’s has been under heavy criticism in the past for food quality and nutritional substance. Through social media, the company has the chance to answer back and address these concerns, which is always better than staying silent. McDonald’s posted a video on Facebook showing consumers where exactly their beef comes from. The company said, “Our commitment to quality food starts at the source.”

Another example of brand reinforcement is the use of Taco Bell’s language on Facebook and Twitter. Taco Bell uses certain terms and words to attract attention from a younger audience. When Taco Bell says “bye summer, it’s been real” and posts pictures of young adults with their products, it only reinforces the theme that Taco Bell is a youthful and energetic alternative to traditional fast food places.

In a service-driven economy, social media is a great tool when used well. Fast food companies are a portion of the service industry that have proven this to be true.

Bennett, Shea. "The Most Social Fast Food Chains On Twitter And Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]." Media Bistro. N.p., 16 July 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-fast-food_b25438>.