As years go by, trends and fads change. Whether it’s the transition from the Razor to the iPhone, or the typewriter to the computer; technology improves, and interests change.  Even when it seems technology has reached its paramount of capabilities, something new is created and surprises us with features we never dreamed to be possible.

The economy is fueled by these popular and new industries.  Today we live in an Internet based society where Apple dominates this generation of smartphones and computers.  However, many have argued that Apple is finished and doomed.  Analysts suggest that Apple is all out of ideas and society is transitioning away from their brilliant inventions.

Although this is a feasible accusation, Apple has been accused of this before and has responded with record-breaking sales of new inventions.  For example, Analysts claimed Apple would be finished…

• Before the iPod came out in 2001.

• Before the iPhone came out in 2007.

• And right before the iPad came out in 2010.

As you can see, Apple has bounced back and proved critics wrong.

So what’s the future of Apple and how will they maintain their relationship with the public? It will be important for Apple to study the public’s attitudes and desires about future products and therefore keep their place as one of the most recognizable companies.

Although Apple’s next commodity has not been revealed, it is speculated that in three years, 485 million of these new devices will be sold a year.  As our society continues to improve technologically, it will be interesting to see what the 2015 launch will be.

Brooks, M., (2015). The billion-dollar ace hidden up apple’s sleeves. The Motley Fool. 

Public Relations practitioners work to create two-way communication and maintain solid relationships. Both companies and individuals used the Oscars as a way to express opinions and spark conversation about social change. Here are some highlights.

1. Dove’s and Twitter’s #SpeakBeautiful Campaign – Women’s Self Esteem
Dove wants to boost women’s self esteem and have done campaigns, such as their Real Beauty Sketches advertisement, to promote this. According to Adweek, over 5 million people tweeted negative comments last year during the show. The #Speakbeautiful campaign promotes tweeting positive compliments during the red carpet using the hashtag.

2.  #Askhermore Campaign – Sexism
Many celebrities supported this campaign during the show. It asks interviewers to stop asking sexist questions.  In an interview, Reese Witherspoon said, “You know, this is a movement to say we’re more than just our dresses.”

3. Patricia Arquette – Women’s Equality
During the acceptance speech for the Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Boyhood,” she said,  “It is our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America!” The show captured other celebrities, like Meryl Streep, showing their support as she gave her speech.

4. Graham Moore and Dana Perry - Suicide Awareness
During his acceptance speech, Graham Moore shared his story about his suicide attempt failure and encouraged others to “stay weird, and stay different.” Producer Dana Perry dedicated her award to her son who committed suicide and said that we must talk this problem.

These are just a few of the examples seen during the 2015 Oscars. How can PR practitioners use these examples or use events like the Oscars to further build relationships?  What other companies have pushed for social change? Is this a good way to maintain relationships? Why or why not?


Sources:
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/dove-and-twitter-team-address-hateful-tweets-about-beauty-oscar-night-163040
http://www.newsweek.com/oscars-2015-reese-witherspoon-tackles-red-carpet-sexism-askhermore-campaign-308625

This is the story of another media company that had its start in a garage. Ben Nunery and Pat Jones decided to act upon their shared passion for using music and design. In 1999, they started a poster print shop in the garage of their rental home. Their company grew to become Powerhouse Factories in 2004, now located in Covington, Kentucky.

Powerhouse’s website states the following about brands and agency marketers:

“They told us our artistic disposition and “bands as brands” perspective was a unique approach to breathing new life into their otherwise stale consumer insights, and brand and consumer experience strategy. The cultural lens through which we viewed the world – brand, consumers and products – provided the dimensionality that was otherwise lacking from their traditional marketing approaches.”

Powerhouse claims that it is not a traditional marketing agency.

Powerhouse is developing itself as time goes on. They are continuing to work to develop the idea that content and product are one in the same. 

They close their bio page on their site with: “The marketing landscape has changed. Powerhouse is committed to changing the agency game.”

With today’s digital media and the ever increasing pace that content is created and shared, should more marketing agencies work toward unifying the content and brands that they are promoting as one idea, instead of two dependent ones?

 

This information and more about Powerhouse Factories can be found at www.powerhousefactories.com.