A conversation started between an individual whose flight was delayed for about an hour and US AIRWAYS on Twitter.
She tweeted this @USAirways Unhappy that 1787 sat for an hour on tarmac in CLT because overweight, resulting in over hour late arrival in PDX…
And US Airways tweeted this @ellerafter We truly dislike delays too and are very sorry your flight was affected.
Then she responded @USAirways yeah, you seem so very sorry. So sorry, in fact, that you couldn’t be bothered to address my other tweets.
And that was the beginning of the disaster because US airways tweeted this in response
And if you want to see the NSFW image here is the link link.
To be honest, I wouldn’t want to be in the US AIRWAYS PR team right now because no apology or taking down the picture will fix this.
You have to be very creative and strategic on how to respond to a crisis like this. That is why I always say that every PR team must have a crisis communication plan handy to respond to situations like these without any delay.
They tweeted an apology saying that they are investigating the case. It’s been more than an hour and we are still waiting to hear from them. They are obviously failing their Crisis Communication 101 and to be fair, if I were on their team, I wouldn’t know what to say in reaction to this tweet.
Whether you are a small or big business, or a person trying to market yourself, managing your brand is one of the most important things you have to do. Strategic branding gives you a competitive advantage in whatever market you are in, or trying to enter. Because your brand is what pushes customers to choose your products/services over another company, it is very important that you carefully choose what you want your brand to be associated with.
For starters, you need to make your brand associations simple enough to be memorable in minds of your customers. Therefore, simplicity is the key. You want people to remember you, and be able to describe what you are about in less than five words. If possible, they should be able to say one word about you or your business that summarizes what you do. For example when you think or hear Volvo, the words that come to your minds are “reliability”, “safety” and “family”. Therefore, someone who is looking for a reliable car wouldn’t go far because Volvo is the answer. It should be the same for your business. However, you have to make sure that your brand associations speak to what your customers value the most. Usually, marketers choose messages that sound good, but sometimes those messages do not align with customers’ needs. With all the resources we have online today, it is easy to find out what your customers want and need to better serve them. You could run a survey on Survey Monkey to learn about ways to serve them. Once you know what people are expecting from you, it is easy to build your brand around those expectations to make sure it speaks to customers personally.
Besides simplicity, memorability helps your brand a lot. As a business owner, you want people to remember who you are and what you do. For this reason, you need to be very careful when you describe yourself. Your brand associations should be something really clear and easy to remember, otherwise your customers will be confused. You don’t want that. In order to do so, you must often engage with your customers to remind them of you. Remember that effective branding is all about conversation and building relationships. Because of this, it is important to find tools that allow you to do both. In my opinion, social media is the perfect tool to engage into a conversation about your brand with your customers not only to give them a chance to express their feedback (both positive and negative), but also to give yourself a chance to remind them who you are and what you do. It’s not enough to have a Facebook page/account, a twitter or an Instagram presence, you need to start the conversation and continue to participate and give feedback when needed.
Your brand is your reputation, and the quality of your reputation determines if you are trustworthy or not. If you manage your brand strategically, you will keep your current customers loyal to your brand, and will attract new ones. Research shows that when two products are of equal qualities, customers choose the product which has strong brand associations.
Instagram is the next big thing in the social media world. Following the steps of Facebook, Instagram has become the app that all the cool kids are using. Some people would say that Facebook is the hottest social media used today, I wouldn’t argue completely against that assertion; however, I would say that Instagram is the next big thing and it is right here (to quote Samsung). Now that everybody is on Facebook, even the parents and grandparents, most kids are using something else that is still considered COOL because their parents aren’t using it. And that other thing is Instagram.
Well, if a company wants to reach that particular demographic, look no more, Instagram is the real deal now. According to EverythingPR, 54% of Top Brands Include Instagram in their Social Strategy in 2012 and this numbers will continue to increase significantly as Instagram is becoming more and more popular among brands and the number or users has grown very fast since last year.
Nike for example has leveraged its presence on the social media using by scoring more than a million followers on its Instagram page. This number is very powerful as these people choose to follow Nike and it means that they either are Nike customers/consumers or they like the company to the point of following it on Instagram. On its page, Nike posts pictures of products and the followers do the rest — they like the picture or they comment on it. That’s visibility.
Not only does Instagram allow you to reach that specific niche of “cool kids” , but the fact that those pictures can be directly shared through other social media channels like Facebook or Twitter makes it even more appealing because by doing so, you will also reach those people who aren’t on Instagram, but who are using other social media sites.
This cool social media platform works well for small businesses as well as fortune 500 companies. It’s all depends on how well the company is using it. For those companies selling lines of products or introducing new lines of products, Instagram is the place to showcase the pictures of the products and create a buzz around them. In conclusion, if you use your Instagram smartly and link it to your other social media accounts, you have more chances to make the best out of your social media presence and reach more customers everyday and keep in touch with news trends in the business and what consumers want to see you doing.
Most of us believe that the car that one drives is the extension of who we are. It is mostly true for some people. If we see a woman driving a Volvo, we would assume that she is a mother. And why that? Because Volvo are known to be family cars for their safety attributions. Another thing that makes people define who you are because of the car you are driving is the amount of money spent to buy that car. We know that someone is rich if he /she is driving a luxury car like a Porsche or another luxury car.
Luxury cars are known not only for their prices, but also for their comfort, features and above all their safety. But what does it really mean to drive a luxury car? is there a difference between someone who drives a Ferrari and someone who drives a Lamborghini? Of course there is. Besides social status, luxury cars communicate something else.
If someone is driving a Ferrari, it means that not only they like and practice sport, it is also suitable for everyday use.
Driving a Porsche is a symbol of autonomy. Driving a Bugatti means that someone is on the next level of luxury. The engine of the car alone cost 100,000 Euros, the price of some new luxury cars. Starting from this observation one can only suspect that the Bugatti Veyron is not a model for the common mortal, but a great jewelry on wheels that will please fans of road and sports car, although it would be a tragedy to play such a machine by incorrect operation of the circuit.
Rolls Royce on the other hand, known the flying woman brand, is just the synonym of perfection. Both the beauty and the features of the car makes it a scarce in the automobile industry. Someone who is driving this, as you probably know, is on the other level, no needs to describe him/her.
This just a example of what a luxury car can mean and believe me, this not the end the of the list. There are still so many brands out there like the Maserati or Aston Martin, the James Bond-like car, and so many more that have a meaning to it.
as I always say, everything is communication, we just did that with luxury cars
For an advertisement to be effective, it needs to be credible to the audience. Credibility or ethos is usually found in the product, or the company that sells the product. Another way to establish a product’s ethos is to do celebrity endorsement. When people see that a celebrity that they like and trust is using a product, it makes them believe in both the product and the company. In advertisement, when the ethos of a company or product and the ethos of a celebrity are combined, it is called associational juxtaposition. This just means juxtaposing an image of a product with something more desirable.
Associational juxtaposition is a technique of print advertising in which a product image is juxtaposed with an image of a person, object, or situation toward which the intended audience can be assumed to have positive feelings.
In the case of Diet Coke, Marc Jacobs’s image is juxtaposed to it because of his reputation as a good designer and a sexy man. The hotness of Jacobs makes Diet Coke looks sexy and infers that people who drink Diet Coke are sexy, or by drinking Diet Coke people become sexy. Diet Coke, a product mostly advertised to women needed a push so that the target audience will have even more faith in the product than before. By combining the strong ethos of Diet Coke as a product and Marc Jacobs’s ethos, it gives Diet Coke a positive image by making it look more sexy and accessible to people.
Therefore, associational juxtaposition is a form that functions and a function that forms. It functions to lead the audience to associate unrelated ideas as closely connected, and consequently, to transfer emotions and attitudes attendant on one to the other. Therefore, the way people feel about Diet Coke is transferred on Marc Jacobs and vice versa. Those who think that Marc Jacobs is sexy will now see Diet Coke as a sexy drink that leads to more sexiness. And those who see Diet Coke as a credible product will trust Marc Jacobs as a designer because they will feel like Coca Cola wouldn’t have hired him to endorse its product if he didn’t have a strong ethos.
Having formed the discourse, associational juxtaposition goes on to form the perceptions and interpretations the audience has of the world. These perceptions and interpretations can impact significantly ways the audience acts, reacts, and interacts with their world. This ad trains on each other’s ethos to enhance the perceptions that people had about both Diet Coke and Marc Jacobs. This new perception of Diet Coke will change the way people see it and will also change how they identify the designer and his products. Associational juxtaposition, then, can function to form individual and collective perceptions of reality. It can build on existing ethos to make an ad more effective or transferring a strong ethos to a product that would not have otherwise to be credible.
Online dating websites are now so popular that I can bet that everybody can name at least one online dating website that they either know, or use. With 90 million single people between the age of 19 and 45, no wonder why online dating websites are booming everyday. Although the need is there, what should people expect from using a website to find that special someone? Well, so many things to expect.
The biggest problem with online dating comes not from the websites, but mostly from the users. Many people believe that by joining an online dating website, things will happen just by magic. It’s not easy because you don’t meet people you are interested in in matters of minutes or days. It takes some time to meet someone who you are interested in and who you think might be interested in asking you out.
The one thing that every person joining an online dating site must learn is PATIENCE. You have to be patient about meeting people and don’t be frustrated if you don’t see anyone who interests you within a week or so of opening your account.
The other problem with online dating is that we never know who we will meet online– good and honest people, criminals, psycho, etc.
Despite the need and demand for dating and the increasing number of single people, online dating isn’t always the best option. Most people who try online dating end up giving up on their search as soon as they feel frustrated for not meeting people they wanted to. According to Forbes magazine, 99 out of 100 online dating sites fail, and because some have an unsavory reputation, you won’t find many Angel or VC investors who are interested. Plan to focus on that other popular tier of investors – founders, family, friends, and fools.
Maybe we should come up with a new way to meet people. If the traditional ways aren’t working for most of us, and if online dating is as unsuccessful as traditional place (bars, library etc.), then we need to come up with a new system of matching people , or at least a new way to meet people. Whether we like it or not, the need and the demand are there, and they need to be addressed.
When the three women who were held captive in Cleveland,Ohio were saved by a neighbor, Charles Ramsey, the rescuer fame has gone viral over the internet. Amanda Berry who went missing 10 years ago the day before her 17th birthday was helped by the new internet star, Charles Ramsey, who heard her call for help. Amanda was not alone in the house. She was held captive along with two other girls. Thankfully, Charles heard their cry for help and called 911.
Charles was interview when the police came and his speech has gone viral all over the internet.
“I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway.”
His choice of words had made him not only a hero, but also a star. It is a matter of minutes today for something to go viral on the internet today. Sometimes, it happens even without any control. Things just happen on the internet.
“The Internet likes to celebrate our heroes,” said Ben Huh, CEO of The Cheezburger Network . A video of Ramsey was the top item on the site Wednesday. “In our own way, this is our celebration of Charles Ramsey.”
Of course, there was the inevitable auto-tune. The Gregory Brothers, known for “Bed Intruder,” “Double Rainbow” and other Internet-famous videos have contributed to making Ramsey famous with the Dead Giveaway video. This video is much like the Bed Intruder because of the likeness of the two characters. Both Antoine and Charles saved someone, and they both have a special way of speaking, which makes me laugh in a good way.
For those who didn’t see the Bed intruder, here is the video, it is very funny.
Ramsey is off to a good start because today, the web loves him. Hopefully, he can be used to do some advertisement for McDonald’s or another company, because using him will be legit.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) also known as corporate citizenship or sustainable responsible business has changed the way companies are seen and judged today. CSR is policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. Large corporations around the world have engaged in responsible behavior by making sure that all their activities are meet ethical standards, and are not harming society. This range from a variety of activities. For example Walmart has shown its citizenship responsibility by making sure that it’s reducing both the environmental impact and the cost of waste by working with (i.e. mandating) its vendors to reduce packaging. Sustainability at Walmart is defines who they are as a business and their values as well as meet the expectations of society of how they should operate.
Since the 70’s when CSR started to become popular, we have seen a great change happening in the business world. Things like Walmart or McDonald’s making sure their activities are not harming the environment and engaging themselves to become more sustainable businesses, Microsoft committing itself to helping nonprofits doing work within communities etc. are a great example of the change that CSR has brought.
However, every time I think about CSR, I always ask myself the question if those companies that are committing themselves to the greater good of the communities are just doing it for the sake of social change or just as a new new of gaining publicity? It is hard to tell if all those actions come from a genuine place. But I came across an article form Forbes and I realized that one way to look at the intentions of companies when they claim to be socially responsible is to look at the idea of social change.
I believe that social change is greater than just being socially responsible by making sure that a business’s activities meet ethics expectations of the people. Being ethically correct is not something a company should brag about because that’s the normal thing to do. So when a company want to brag about its CSR report, it should look at the change it’s making within the communities. The way to do this is to start by engaging employees in the so-called CSR activities. Employees have to understand why their company is doing so and so and what the impact that those actions will have in the society. once employees understand the reasoning behind all of this, they will commit themselves not to the company, but to make sure that every thing they do at their job is bringing a positive change for them and their communities in every possible way.
If the companies that claim their citizenship responsibility don’t consider social change as the core of their CSR activities, then everything they claim to do for our communities or for the environment is just a new way to gain publicity. If they are in it just for publicity or for looking good, then they should go back to the traditional ways of gaining publicity. And if they are in it for the greater good of society, then CSR is the best thing that ever happened to businesses
When I first saw this video, it reminded me of all the other commercials about the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. This video really strikes me to my real core because it touches an issue that I care about a lot. The way beauty is portrayed on the media is affecting negatively lives of teenage girls who still have to define who they really are. You would think that once these girls turn into women, they will stop worrying so much about their image and whether of not they are beautiful. However, the older women get, the more self-conscious about their image they become.
Dove Real Beauty Campaign came into place at the right moment given how big the issue of self-image has grown. I remember all those Dove videos (I posted one of them yesterday) and all the pictures I have seen before portraying what look like normal-looking women expressing their beauty in different ways. I am very sure that the idea behind this campaign is genuine because every woman, at some point or another, is affected by the images that her mirror reflects.
It’s great that Dove want to promote real beauty so that people can stop doing the impossible to look like some model who probably is either underweight or has had plastic surgery. Three out of four American teenage girls feel depressed, guilty and shameful after spending three minutes leafing through a fashion magazine — a magazine that probably features fashion models who, on average, weigh 23% less than the average American woman. It was very important that someone takes the first step to stop this.
However, I really find it very ironic that Dove does this real beauty thing, when her parent company, Unilever owns Axe, which is one of sexiest brands out there. Axe commercials always portray a young boy who, by using Axe, can attract those amazing-looking girls.
This video of Axe commercial is just an example of what is wrong today in the media. How women are portrayed is this commercial pushes other people to the edge. That’s is why many teenage have an image issue.
If we just look at these two videos, we can tell where the issue lies. I think that as part of Unilever CSR efforts, there is a need to reconsider the way Axe is portrayed on ads. It is important that Axe follows the steps of Dove and that the umbrella brand impose this on all sub-brands.
For me it’s a real paradox to see that Unilever would support two brands that seem to oppose each other when it comes to their views on what beauty is. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty should serve as a clear message to body image activists – rhetoric about negative ads is not enough. We have to focus on the deeper economic sources that perpetuate (and profit from) negative body image. Besides, Unilever needs to reconsider its impact in society and how the portrayal of some of its brands can affect society, especially on a issue that seems to become more and more popular.
Natacha Maheshe 