By Rachel Zetwick As many PRSSA members prepare to enter the workforce next May, students should get creative when thinking about industries that have job openings. One area of interest is higher education branding and marketing. Here are a few companies that provide public relations efforts to universities across the United States. Ologie https://ologie.com/ Ologie is a branding and marketing organization located in Columbus, Ohio, that provides branding and marketing needs to universities across the United States. The agency prides itself by “connecting donors with powerful advancement campaigns and shifting perceptions of institutions all over the country.” Ologie has provided services to institutions such as Skidmore College, Carnegie Mellon University and Bucknell University. Up and Up https://www.upandup.agency/ Up and Up is a higher education marketing and advertising agency based in Greenville, South Carolina. The organization provides a variety of branding services such as creative plans, digital marketing and general marketing. The company has partnered with universities across
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By: Hannah Banas When Twitter first launched in 2006, it started gaining exponential popularity. It was a huge success with young people because it was a new and innovative way to communicate with friends. However, as years have passed, CEOs and business owners have started to use Twitter to promote their companies. It seems that as more companies are now tweeting than individuals. Even though people seem to be tweeting less, it is still a viable advertising technique for companies for these reasons. 1. Easy communication with customers People like being able to reach out to a company with ease to give them feedback and ask questions. The easier it is for a customer to connect with a company, the more satisfied they will be. Twitter allows for this quick interaction, so all companies should take advantage. 2. Spread the Word Quickly Twitter allows companies to spread their product or service to people who would otherwise not know about it. It is a cheap and easy way for companies to connect with possible new customers. 3. Free Analytics Since Twitter does not cost companies anything, unless they want their ads to be further up on peoples’ feeds, companies get information on reactions to their ads. They can see whether people like the product based on how many likes and favorites the Tweet gets. By: Kendall Cree With the new season of Stranger Things just coming out, Netflix decided to implement various marketing strategies in order to promote media attention. These strategies were able to make the buzz of the already popular show, even more hype. One of the best forms of marketing the show’s producers implemented was using interactive advertising. Netflix, the creators of Stranger Things, partnered with the company Lyft to provide an interactive experience for its viewers to promote the new season coming out. On October 26th and 27th nationwide Lyft users were able to change its map in which the cars would show up as common Stranger Things items in the show such as waffles, Christmas lights, trucker hats, and the show logo. In select locations, there was also an interactive car ride with pulsating ceilings, flickering lights, and many other show themed features. In addition, to partnering with Lyft, Netflix decided to use their social media to release trailers and other teasers. They released trailers about the upcoming season along with posters and a game for fans to download and play. This helped create brand loyalty and add more attention to the upcoming show. If this wasn’t enough advertising, along with the listed above strategies, Netflix also worked with Eggo brand waffles. Eggo claimed they were unaware of the iconic Eggo waffles being used in the show so frequently and were more than happy to help promote the season. Eggo used their waffles as an ad space for the show and even made recipes “to enjoy while watching the show”. By implementing all of these strategies, Netflix was able to advertise to many different demographics. Lyft is mainly used for 16-30 year-olds, social media and a video game is for the younger demographic, and recipes can advertise to moms who cook and could tell their children and family about the show. All in all, I believe Netflix made excellent strides towards advertising for their already successful show to help make it even more popular. Source- https://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/23469.as By: Sarah Emery There’s a lot that sets Empower Media Marketing apart from many agencies today. Not only are they one of the largest U.S. media independent media agencies left, it is family-owned and is a certified woman-owned business. Empower Media Marketing prides itself on a “values-driven culture of trust and transparency” and employs a mentality of engineering relationship chemistry. What is relationship chemistry? Empowering Media Marketing has two core focus areas:
Recognized as the 2016 Agency of the Year by MediaPost, Empower Media Marketing has worked with a wide variety of clients, including Ashley Homestore, Kroger, United Dairy Farmers and Wendy’s. Just last month, Empower Media Marketing opened a new headquarters in Over The Rhine in Cincinnati and has also recently adopted a new logo, brand colors and collateral. If you want to learn more about Empower Media Marketing and the world of media, you’re in luck! This week, PRSSA is welcoming Ashley Walters, the Vice President of Business Development, on November 7 at 7:00pm in Armstrong Student Center Pavilion C. By: Kendall Cree In this day and age, companies are branching out to many different platforms in order to reach their demographics. J-Crew has decided to take their marketing in a completely new way and placing their catalog exclusively on Pinterest. Pinterest as a platform has been on an upward climb in popularity, predominantly for young women and Midwestern women, a very hard-to-reach demographic. Major brands, in this case J-Crew, are finding new visual-based social networking in order to reach their buyers, as well as finding new buyers. In order to defy the norm, J-Crew debuted their September looks on their official Pinterest page in addition to their traditional print catalog. In addition to giving J-crew shoppers a new way of shopping, it makes shopping a “social experience”. Consumers can now share their pieces on their Pinterest accounts and let friends and families see their interests in the collection. This new initiative caught the business world by surprise and is creating major buzz. The real question is, how soon until other brands follow along and start adapting similar marketing promotion ideas through social media platforms? Sources: https://thrivehive.com/paving-way-businesses-pinterest-jcrew-debuts-fall/ http://jcrew.com By: Chloe Tykal In a new advertising campaign, Barbie® is promoting its newest doll, a collaboration with fashion house Moschino. For the most part, everything looks the same: very pink, very fashionable and very Barbie®. One thing stands out very clearly from every other Barbie® ad ever made: the featured child playing with Barbie® is a boy. This is the first time in the 56 years of the Barbie® brand that a boy has ever been in an advertising campaign. Although he is featured alongside two girls, the boy is the face of the entire campaign. His face is the one featured on the Moschino Instagram, earning 15.4 thousand likes on the social media app. In the advertisement, the boy hands Barbie® her doll-sized Moschino bag and proclaims that “Moschino Barbie® is SO fierce” before winking at the camera. The limited edition dolls sold out in under an hour and are being sold online through second-party retailers for upwards of $300. Much of the doll’s success is being credited towards the diversity of the advertisement. Since the ad first premiered there has been an overwhelmingly strong social media response. Check out the full Moschino Barbie® advertisement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TULVRlpsNWo By: Chloe Tykal Makeup junkies rejoice! MAC just announced a collaboration with beauty icon Dita von Teese for a new Viva Glam lipstick. The MAC Viva Glam campaign has been cranking out celebrity inspired colors and products for 21 years, working with symbols from Nicki Minaj to Cyndi Lauper. All of the proceeds from the Viva Glam collection go to MAC’s AIDS Fund, which supports those diagnosed and living with HIV AIDS across the globe. Von Teese, a model, entrepreneur and occasional actress, is well known for re-popularizing burlesque performance. She channels the vintage sex appeal both on and off of the red carpet with her classic look. As for her new lipstick, red was an obvious choice. “For my entire adult life, I can’t really remember a time when I left the house without red lipstick on” von Teese confesses. The shade has been described as “the perfect red” and is supposed to capture the classic glamour that von Teese’s personal brand creates. The inspiration behind the color was von Teese’s new book, Your Beauty Mark. It is a blue-based, scarlet red that “evokes glamour and confidence.” The MAC Von Teese lipstick can be expected on shelves and online on December 9 but the rest of the MAC Viva Glam Campaign (currently showcasing Miley Cyrus) is available now at http://www.maccosmetics.com. By: Erin Antonelli On October 12, Facebook announced it would test out a new shopping feature on its site. The feature, called Canvas, will begin testing in select areas of the country. The idea behind Canvas is to cut out the middleman between Facebook and retailers. When users click on in-feed ads they will no longer be directed to the company’s website, but instead be able to purchase directly through Facebook. It also allows for users to browse through other items that the company sells. Currently, there are a limited number of brands. It is mostly larger retailers such as Target and Niemen Marcus. If Canvas is successful, however, the number of retailers could expand. Facebook developed the feature in response to the needs of the user. Many users no longer look at Facebook solely as a place to connect with family and friends. According to Facebook’s research, nearly half the people who visit their sites were actively seeking new products. This feature will meet their needs as well as drive sales for the businesses they are purchasing from. Facebook is not the first social media site to join in the e-commerce game. Both Pinterest and Twitter have seen success with shopping features. Facebook is, however, the largest with around 1.23 billion users. Adding a shopping feature could entice even more users or convince current users to spend more time on the site. By: Allison Haworth Many Snapchat users have probably discovered that the well-known filters that appear when you swipe right on your picture, a recent upgrade to the application, have gotten snappers deforming their face through the use of selfie lenses. In order to get to these new selfie lenses, it is necessary to have the most recent upgrade. To get to the lenses, the Snapchat user must tap and hold on the screen while on the selfie camera view. Eight new lenses will appear on the screen and are ready to be used. This remarkable upgrade to the app has gotten so much attention that it has attracted many new users. Snapchat has been considered one of the top players for social media, and through the development of the new additions; it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. This buzz about the new selfie lenses has created a large progression of publicity. Through all these new filters, companies believe it is a good idea to sponsor themselves via Snapchat. Although this branding doesn’t come with a cheap price, Snapchat is charging millions for an ad on one of their filters during peak seasons. Many Snapchat users don’t mind the ads as long as it provides them with a fun new frame to take a selfie with. So get out there, test out the new Snapchat lenses and get your selfie on! By: Emily Lammers Thousands lined up on the morning of April 19 outside of Targets across the country. Since the January announcement of Lilly Pulitzer’s partnership with Target there has been endless buzz on social media and from preppy girls everywhere. Some expressed pure joy for the release; others quite aggressively said this move would devalue the Lilly Pulitzer brand. However, Target’s work with Lilly Pulitzer is turning out to be one of the most highly anticipated of the 150 limited-time designer partnerships it’s ever done. Target executives say the partnership’s success doesn’t have much to do with how many or how quickly products are sold. To Target it is already successful just by the buzz and excitement it has provoked. In January, it was a trending topic on Twitter and has continually been a popular subject on social media since then. The success of the partnership was no longer questioned as the collection sold out within minutes across the country and online. By: Paige Roberts Public Relations and branding is everywhere; billboards while you’re driving down the highway, on the radio, television commercials; literally everywhere. But one source of PR and branding that has come to attention in recent days is, Will Ferrell. Yes, the comedy legend Will Ferrell is more or less a walking PR campaign for a number of different brands. However he does so in a rather discrete way. He isn’t starring in commercials in order to endorse a product or promote a brand. He campaigned for Wonder Bread in his Nascar inspired movie, Talladega Nights. He supported Lego by starting in their recent animated film. And even advertised for, Little Debbie by naming himself the newest face of the sweet treat during his appearance on the, Tonight Show. This unique branding technique inspired by Will Ferrell even has it’s own name. Adweek.com marked the term for this method as, “Ferrellvertising.” Some may think that it’s a silly way of branding for a company or even for Will Ferrell to be taking part in it. But when Wonder Bread went from being in bankruptcy to gaining $4.3 million in exposure (adag.com), who will really be laughing? Next time you’re looking to sell a good or service instead of turning to your traditional PR firm for branding techniques you may want to consider the, “Ferrellvertising” method. By: Jack Bernard With the arrival of spring many things are changing, including your PR strategy. Crystal Richard, the PR director for Onboardly, has come up with five spring-cleaning tips for your public relations strategy. 1. Try a new style.
2. Clear the clutter and get back to your “why.”
3. Evaluate how you are using your time.
4. Rethink your press releases.
5. Add new tools to your daily routine.
How can you change up your PR strategy this spring? http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18364.aspx By: Paige Garty While the weather in Oxford is beginning to heat up, so is the attention that 72andSunny is getting. The LA-based advertisement agency was recently ranked in the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2015. The CEO, John Boiler, believes that advertising is all “about behavior, not messaging.” And this is exactly the focus for the agency’s latest campaign. The “Ask the Google App” Campaign can be seen all over New York City. Frequently asked questions are posted all over the city’s landmarks to promote the usage of Google’s new app. The questions focus on the consumers’ behaviors and attitudes toward their potential, everyday thoughts. Where most companies would create a commercial to get their message out, 72andSunny submerged their ads into locations that correspond with consumers’ questions. Some of their ads include signs outside of art exhibits that read, “Ok Google, what is Conceptual art?” Every ad is positioned in specific location or on a certain item where a person might stop to ponder what they are actually looking at. 72andSunny’s campaign is just one way how agencies are making advertisements a more customary and common part of our lives. Want to know what the other 49 Most Innovative Companies are? Go here: http://www.fastcompany.com/section/most-innovative-companies-2015 By: Rosie Leuby Success stories can be the most powerful selling tool! The best way for any success story to be told is typically through word of mouth. For example, suppose a customer who you recently completed a project with speaks highly of your company to ten people. Then, those people recommend you to ten other people and soon it is posted on the web or it appears in the news media about your success story. Success stories are highly value way to market you and your company to customers. It is a way to transform a customer into a personal advocate willing to promote on behalf of you and your company. To launch a successful success story, you first have to ask yourself: 1. Are success stories right for us? 2. Can we get permission to “name names” of clients? 3. Is now the right time to suggest doing a success story? 4. What is the ideal length of a success story? Eggert, M. (2015, November 25). Success Stories: Your Most Powerful Selling Tools | ComPRehension. Retrieved March 4, 2015. By: Tali Hunt 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. by Alana Hallett In Los Angeles Times article “‘Mockingjay’: Is it time to end Hollywood’s final- book mitosis?” illustrates the relatively new production trend in the film industry that takes the final book in a series and splits it into two films. Starting about five years ago with the Harry Potter franchise, other book to movie franchises, such as Twilight, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, and now Divergent have followed this trend, hoping to not only gain more revenue by splitting the finale into two, but holding onto the fans that wish for the series to go on a little bit longer. Yet, this recently new trend in the film industry might be a short run with this new generation. As L.A. Times states, “We live in an instant-gratification, binge-watching world. Making fans wait an extra year for a conclusion--trying to manufacture excitement, essentially, with an artificial delay--just doesn’t fit with how most of us want to consume entertainment.” The article goes onto illustrate how the first movie instalment of Collins final bookMockingjay, revenues dropped 22% compared to the second movie Catching Fire. Mockingjay was never meant to be split into two movies. It does not have the same heightening action and suspense in the first part of the book to raise revenue as the first two movies did, or the last part of Mockingjay is highly expected to. Thus fans who originally liked the idea of extending the series a little longer, are now becoming aggravated with having to wait a year to finish the final instalment of the series. It just does not correlate well with this day and age of media culture. Is this a marketing strategy that is being short lived? Are we going to see this trend change the final instalments of series into three hour movies instead? Or will they continue to market two separate movies to fulfill the audiences need for a longer saturation of the franchise, and let cash flow in with two major premieres instead of one? http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-mockingjay-part-1-movie-split-jennifer-lawrence-20141124-story.html#page=1. by Courtney Helmuth Get ready. Walt Disney has just released their next princess. Her name is Moana, which means ‘ocean’ in many Polynesian languages. Disney plans on releasing their newest CG film in late 2016. While Disney has not let very many details slip, a basic plot has been shared. A young, adventurist female sets off on an adventure to find a fabled island in the world of Oceania. She teams up with the Polynesian demigod, Maui, to complete her “ancestor’s quest.” Along the way, they meet mythical sea creatures, underworlds, and folklore. Following in the footsteps of previous movies, such as ‘Brave’ and ‘Frozen,’ Moana will be the courageous heroine of the movie. Unlike the earlier Disney princesses, she won’t be sitting around waiting for a Prince Charming to come save her. Instead, she embarks on her own adventure. Disney has taken many steps in the right direction for women. With ‘Frozen’ grossing $1.27 billion, you can clearly see how the idea of a strong female lead and sisterhood attracts people to watch and re-watch a movie. Here’s to hoping that what ‘Frozen’ did for feminism is what ‘Moana’ does for cultural diversity. Especially considering the fact that she will be only the fifth princess of color. by Ellie Broaddus Within the past year, the coffee chain Starbucks has generated plenty of positive publicity through their positive and innovative Public Relations ideas, such as their Starbucks College Achievement Plan, in which they’re offering thousands of part- and full-time U.S. partners to finish their bachelor’s degree with a full tuition reimbursement. Recently, Kristie Williams, a Starbucks employee, has created a petition in order to grant Starbucks baristas permission to sport their tattoos and piercings while working. With more than 25,000 signatures from Starbucks employees all across the country, the dress code change has been approved, and Starbucks employees will soon have permission to sport visible tattoos and piercings while on the job—as long as they are deemed appropriate. It’s important for companies to pay attention to Public Relations trends as well as increase employee retention. In my opinion, Starbucks made the right choice in supporting the petition, as well as over 25,000 employees nationwide. Attitudes towards more relaxed dress codes for employees in major chain companies have become a lot more common during the past few years, including major companies like Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Petsmart. However, will more companies join the bandwagon in this growing trend? by Paige Garty You and your friends go on a hiking trip and to remember your good times you snap a ‘selfie.’ Later, you post that picture onto social media. Little do you know you and your social media followers are not the only ones who can see the picture from your hiking excursion. Ditto Labs in Massachusetts created new software that scans people’s photos from different social media sites for companies to track how their customers are responding to their product in everyday life. 1.8 billion photos are uploaded to social networking sites every day. This means 1.8 billion photos are being scanned every day from sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. The software allows companies to track the logos and patterns on people’s clothing, the location of the picture, and even reads facial expressions to determine the satisfaction of the customer. The new program is a dream come true for marketing firms. They can now carry out extensive research with little effort and can find out vast information about their products’ consumers. Based on the results form Dittos Labs’ program, Advertisers can find out exactly how they should target their customers. You may be thinking that this is totally intrusive and simply cannot be legal, but the director of Big Brother Watch (a group that challenges policies which it believes threaten people’s privacy) says otherwise. Emma Carr told MailOnline, “Social media companies are well within their rights to scan photos for marketing purposes, which will certainly come as a surprise to many users.” I guess it is true what they say: be careful what you post on the Internet! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2791977/smile-advertisers-watching-marketing-firms-scanning-social-media-photos-clues.html by Paige Garty I’m sure most of you have heard of Fashion Week: a hectic week dedicated to announcing next season’s hottest fashion. But have you ever heard of Advertising Week? Advertising Week is the annual gathering of marketing and communications leaders from all different companies. People from all around the world meet up in New York City for a week of seminars, workshops, and other events that relate to advertising. Just like Fashion Week, fresh new trends are announced that impact the entire industry. There are many entertaining activities for attendees such as contests, guest speakers, short films, and even concerts. Each year, the executive board of “The Week” announces the new members of the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame. This years lucky winners were: the Morton Salt Girl (celebrating her 100th anniversary), Smokey the Bear (celebrating his 70th anniversary), and Snuggle Bear from Snuggle Fabric Softener (celebrating his 30th anniversary). “The Week” consists of many hands on opportunities. The 6th annual Big Ad Gig was a huge success. Five men and women presented their ideas to the industry judges and Advertising Council who awarded them with paid, 30-day freelance agencies posts. Here are some FACTS & FIGURES about Advertising Week: · Advertising Week began in 2004. · Over 90,000 advertising junkies attended this year · This year it was held from September 29th to October 3rd. · There were 250+ events and 190+ seminars and workshops held by the industry’s most prominent leaders · The second annual Advertising Week in Europe will be held in March 2015 Feel free to check out the official website here: www.advertisingweek.com by Chris Foster Social media is a growing tool that many businesses and companies are utilizing. Public relations is grasping onto the idea that social media provide brands a frontier of connecting with clients and customers. Many companies go head first when they are starting off in social media. There are some important tips that will help them tackle social media.
Many companies build rapport by tweeting, posting and mentioning different aspects they like about a situation or topic. This allows companies to change to the way views or followers want them to change. In sense it is kind of like a focus group online, allowing citizens to give feedback and evaluations on what companies are doing. Social media promotes growth and prosperity and should be utilized. |
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