Archive for May, 2009

When Awareness and Preference is Not Enough.

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Not many people remember a product called Zima and that’s the point of this post. As a marketing professional I’ve always been interested in new product introductions and advertising campaigns in general – how well do they work? how long do they “run” (suggesting that the positive effects are continuing to produce results or, if nothing else, that the agency and client haven’t “pulled the plug” prematurely). (more…)

Social Media and Crisis Communications

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

(see my article on social media and crisis management pubished 6/1/09 on Human Resource Executive online)

Campus shootings and challenges faced by schools and universities in communicating immediately with students and staff have prompted these institutions to take a new look at crisis communication plans – and to incorporate social media into the mix.

At least one health care system – Innovis Health, a 21-location healthcare provider with sites in Minnesota and North Dakota – has used social media to (more…)

TweetEthics: Trust and Transparency in a Web 2.0 World

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

As PR reps and journalists for individuals and companies learn more about the benefits of Twitter, and other forms of social media, questions are arising about how/how not to present information.

Should the writer of a post – or tweet – reveal who they are? Indicate that they’re writing “on behalf of” another individual or organization? Let the reader draw his/her own conclusions? What’s right? What’s not? (more…)

Is “Old Media” Dead? I Don’t Think So.

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

In an online forum, recently, a poster made the observation that “old media is dead.” Hmmm. I can understand the sentiment. After all, it seems like every day we hear about some media outlet that is either downsizing or shutting down completely and we all “know” that *nobody* reads newspapers anymore… But, I’m skeptical. In fact, I have a feeling that “old media” may eventually be reincarnated. (more…)

McDonald’s vs. Starbucks – the Coffee Wars

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

McDonald’s recently announced that it will be serving specialty coffees like vanilla lattes and caramel cappuccinos at outlets across the U.S., at a fraction of the cost of the same types of drinks at Starbucks.

Wow! As this plays out it will be a great economics case study. Can you compete on price? What value is there in a brand? Will consumers continue to pay more for something that they can get for less someplace else?

(more…)

In The Minds of Consumers – Brilliant!

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

On the way home from teaching a class the other day I heard what I thought was a classicly created radio commercial from OnStar.

The attention-getting premise: “Are you counting on your cell phone to be your lifeline in a crash?” Well, yeah. That’s why I don’t need OnStar, right? (more…)

Will Kindle Replace “Real” Books?

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

I don’t think so.

I’ve long been a stalwart supporter of paper and very much aligned with the philosophy that technology represents another option, not necessarily a replacement option for many communication tactics and tools. (Somewhat akin to the old “TV will replace radio” sentiment.) The advent of TV obviously changed the radio industry as the advent of technology will change the publishing industry – I don’t, however, think (more…)