My inspiration this week is a Route 44 Vanilla Diet Coke from Sonic.
On the side of the Styrofoam cup there is a “create your own flavor” how-to guide. There are three steps to adding flavors to your ordinary drink in order to create almost 400,000 combinations. There is also a list of the flavors available on the other side of the cup.
Nowhere on the cup is anything about Sonic. No website, Facebook page, Twitter account or even phone number. This got me to thinking. Professor Bufkins always says to promote all parts of a campaign (including social media) on all other parts.
Sonic could have easily printed a website or Facebook page on these cups, so why didn’t they? At first I thought it was because the cups were printed before social media became a big player, but then the copyright information says 2011 so it ruled out that theory.
Sonic had my attention. I don’t normally pay this much attention to my cups, and I can easily Google Sonic- Americas Drive-In but why should I have to? In this day in age isn’t it faux pas for a company not to at least put their website on promotional items?
I took this thought one step further (at this point my boyfriend was getting tired of my rant so I decided to blog instead). Sonic has thousands of combinations and directions, as previously stated, on their cups with similar information on their bags for food. Why not turn it into a contest? Visitors to the Sonic Facebook or Twitter pages could write their favorite combinations for a week, then based on likes the “favorite” could become a special for a month or two.
After ranting about Sonics’ lack of motivation to use social media I had another idea for them. Between the hours of 2-4 in the afternoon Sonic is famous for its half price drinks. Why not incorporate Four Square into that equation. During happy hour checking in to sonic could lead to a free small tater tot or upgrade in drink size, and if it is not during that time frame, give the happy hour prices.
As an avid Sonic soda drinker ( I swear by Diet Vanilla Coke) I would defiantly take part in the social media part of Sonic, and the people I know who use Four Square, and some that don’t, wish more businesses would use it.
I know I am not the only one with these ideas, and I wonder if Sonic has something in the works. I hope that companies do not think that they are above social media, or that they cannot apply it to their everyday business plan. Sonic could have printed a website, or gone above and beyond and created a contest on social media with their cups, but instead- I am left Googling “Sonic America’s Drive-In website.”
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Clown.
Some people may think of PR professionals as “flappers” or “clowns (or so I have been told this week.)They don’t see the behind the scenes work, and think that the news magically appears on reporters desks. The public sometimes thinks that our only purpose in a company is to speak to them when something goes wrong.
Although calling us clowns seems distasteful, in some ways it’s true. We juggle, a lot. There is always something that needs to be updated, sent out, or created. A campaign is always being created, tweeked, measured or changed and a company always tries to respond to its customers.
That’s where we come in.
We are constantly deciding which medium is the best for our market. Do we take on Twitter? What about Facebook? A blog? Once that question is decided three or for more pop up. Who is going to update them? How often? How are we going to respond to comments?
Juggling social media is not our only task. Along with getting Google Alerts with comments from Facebook, we write press releases, fact sheets, backgrounders, position papers etc. for reporters. Do we get credit? No, but that is not the point. We all know when a story we helped with airs, and that little smile comes across our face.
Along with the daily multi-tasking of social media and helping create news, we must keep our clients and the stakeholders informed. Newsletters get written and sent out, conference calls get made and meetings with power points get presented.
Looks to me like we are juggling.
Lets add in another clown-like trait, tight-rope-walking. There is a fine line in Public Relations. Not only between what is ethical and what is not, but how to keep your personal life and work life separate. With social media, keeping comments to yourself do not exist, especially if you choose to put them online. Many people have lost their jobs for saying something inappropriate or posting a picture online.
It may not be painted in clown makeup, but PR professionals have a smile painted on their faces, epically during a crisis. We are responsible for getting the news to you, the public during difficult times. Even if that makes us upset, mad, angry etc. We have to put on a normal face, to talk to you.
We also have big shoes to fill. The people who have practice PR well have set the bar high for soon to be graduates. You may not know their names because they have not been in the news, and they are not famous like Charlie Sheen, but they handle situations with class and grace. Their shoes are like clown shoes to me. Maybe one day I will be able to fit into them, but at first young PR professionals might be awkward and trip or stumble.
So you see, when people call us clowns to them it may be an insult. I respond by saying yes: I juggle every day, I also can walk a tight rope, wear a smile and have big shoes to fill. In a way, we are clowns, it just depends on your perspective.
Although calling us clowns seems distasteful, in some ways it’s true. We juggle, a lot. There is always something that needs to be updated, sent out, or created. A campaign is always being created, tweeked, measured or changed and a company always tries to respond to its customers.
That’s where we come in.
We are constantly deciding which medium is the best for our market. Do we take on Twitter? What about Facebook? A blog? Once that question is decided three or for more pop up. Who is going to update them? How often? How are we going to respond to comments?
Juggling social media is not our only task. Along with getting Google Alerts with comments from Facebook, we write press releases, fact sheets, backgrounders, position papers etc. for reporters. Do we get credit? No, but that is not the point. We all know when a story we helped with airs, and that little smile comes across our face.
Along with the daily multi-tasking of social media and helping create news, we must keep our clients and the stakeholders informed. Newsletters get written and sent out, conference calls get made and meetings with power points get presented.
Looks to me like we are juggling.
Lets add in another clown-like trait, tight-rope-walking. There is a fine line in Public Relations. Not only between what is ethical and what is not, but how to keep your personal life and work life separate. With social media, keeping comments to yourself do not exist, especially if you choose to put them online. Many people have lost their jobs for saying something inappropriate or posting a picture online.
It may not be painted in clown makeup, but PR professionals have a smile painted on their faces, epically during a crisis. We are responsible for getting the news to you, the public during difficult times. Even if that makes us upset, mad, angry etc. We have to put on a normal face, to talk to you.
We also have big shoes to fill. The people who have practice PR well have set the bar high for soon to be graduates. You may not know their names because they have not been in the news, and they are not famous like Charlie Sheen, but they handle situations with class and grace. Their shoes are like clown shoes to me. Maybe one day I will be able to fit into them, but at first young PR professionals might be awkward and trip or stumble.
So you see, when people call us clowns to them it may be an insult. I respond by saying yes: I juggle every day, I also can walk a tight rope, wear a smile and have big shoes to fill. In a way, we are clowns, it just depends on your perspective.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Crisis.
For crisis communication teams everywhere, social media has been lending its
helping hand in getting information out during situations across the board. Most of the time social media works as a partner with a crisis communication team, helping put the fires out and keeping everyone safe.
Sometimes, it backfires. Social media is just that, social. Anyone who has an option or hears a rumor can post their thoughts for everyone to hear- even if it is wrong.
Rumors of deaths and breakups, shootings and hook-ups have all started via social media, Twitter in particular. As long as you can say what you're thinking in 140 characters or less, the possibilities on Twitter are endless.
Texas Women’s University had a threat made by a student last week, prompting the University to go on an immediate lock down. Students who signed up for the “pioneer alert” received a text or email stating not to go on campus.
It took TWU over 30 minutes to update their website at all, and when they did it was a simple statement “the campus is on lockdown please stay indoors and do not come to campus if you are not there yet,” or something along those lines. After an hour, @twunews had yet to report anything. After I mentioned them and the lack of response (and a few students retweeting it) they finally updated a tweet saying the same generic statement as the website.
Although to this point the communication had been vague, It was consistent. The consistency stopped there however; the local news stations started to report different stories, some were that the suspect was somewhere on campus with a gun, others tweeted that the suspect had fled campus. No one knew the real story because TWU or @twunews had yet to release any more information.
An hour after the lockdown began, TWU finally posted a press release on their website stating some basic facts of the case, and calling the all clear on campus. TWUnews then tweeted that if you were in your car you needed to leave campus;at the same time local news stations were tweeting the all clear and for students to return to classes as normal.
The miscommunication between twitter users can cause more confusion in a crisis situation instead of getting information out to the public.
Although the TWU case is the most recent, cases involving twitter miscommunication, and social media in general go back as far as the Internet. Miscommunication in general has been around since the beginning of time, and with social media it is becoming easier to get confused.
Are companies and universities taking miscommunication due to social media into account when they add it into a communication plan? Or are they assuming that social media is only a tool that can help, not harm?
helping hand in getting information out during situations across the board. Most of the time social media works as a partner with a crisis communication team, helping put the fires out and keeping everyone safe.
Sometimes, it backfires. Social media is just that, social. Anyone who has an option or hears a rumor can post their thoughts for everyone to hear- even if it is wrong.
Rumors of deaths and breakups, shootings and hook-ups have all started via social media, Twitter in particular. As long as you can say what you're thinking in 140 characters or less, the possibilities on Twitter are endless.
Texas Women’s University had a threat made by a student last week, prompting the University to go on an immediate lock down. Students who signed up for the “pioneer alert” received a text or email stating not to go on campus.
It took TWU over 30 minutes to update their website at all, and when they did it was a simple statement “the campus is on lockdown please stay indoors and do not come to campus if you are not there yet,” or something along those lines. After an hour, @twunews had yet to report anything. After I mentioned them and the lack of response (and a few students retweeting it) they finally updated a tweet saying the same generic statement as the website.
Although to this point the communication had been vague, It was consistent. The consistency stopped there however; the local news stations started to report different stories, some were that the suspect was somewhere on campus with a gun, others tweeted that the suspect had fled campus. No one knew the real story because TWU or @twunews had yet to release any more information.
An hour after the lockdown began, TWU finally posted a press release on their website stating some basic facts of the case, and calling the all clear on campus. TWUnews then tweeted that if you were in your car you needed to leave campus;at the same time local news stations were tweeting the all clear and for students to return to classes as normal.
The miscommunication between twitter users can cause more confusion in a crisis situation instead of getting information out to the public.
Although the TWU case is the most recent, cases involving twitter miscommunication, and social media in general go back as far as the Internet. Miscommunication in general has been around since the beginning of time, and with social media it is becoming easier to get confused.
Are companies and universities taking miscommunication due to social media into account when they add it into a communication plan? Or are they assuming that social media is only a tool that can help, not harm?
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