Tag: public relations

Retailers Give Back Through RetailROI

Posted on | by Jeff Ketner
Photo courtesy of RetailROI

RetailROI, the Retail Orphan Initiative, is a shining example of technology vendors, retailers and analysts working together to raise awareness of the plight of orphans worldwide. More than that, though, RetailROI, provides not only funds but volunteers who are willing to put in “sweat equity” to build schools, computer labs, children’s homes, clean water projects around the world.

Since its founding 5 ½ years ago, RetailROI has helped more than 139,000 orphaned and at-risk children through education, computers, food and medical care. The charity has funded more than 70 projects around the world, with 94% of the funds going directly to charity.

Ketner Group is proud to provide pro bono PR support to RetailROI, and in this week’s blog we’re spotlighting a recent trip to South Africa, where RetailROI provided funding and manpower to set up a computer lab for impoverished kids. A big shout-out to our client 360pi, who along with Intel helped provide the funding for a computer lab that includes 30 tablet computers and a server.

RetailROI volunteer John Orr, SVP of Retail for Ceridian, led the RetailROI trip to South Africa with charity partner LUO, which provides education and after-school care for young impoverished children in South Africa.  Below is his first-person account (provided courtesy of RetailROI):

How was your trip to South Africa?  

Amazing, joyful, and tearful all in one. Ria, who runs the school, lost her sister years ago when they were car jacked and her sister Korna was shot and killed.  She spent years trying to understand it and find her purpose in life and at the same time wishing she was the one who was killed and not her sister.  She came upon these orphans and kids in need and found it.  My niece Lindsay got involved 8 years ago and has raised monies to build a safe house on the school property and fund other improvements.  That’s how I got involved.

Who also helped and did heavy lifting?

Intel sent a team made up of individuals from all around the world (who had never met) and brought them in to work on this project. It’s fabulous that they overcame many obstacles to set-up the lab and train the teachers; within a week they had the students using the tablets for research, spelling, art and so much more.

What surprised you? 

Photo courtesy of RetailROI

I was floored that these kids, who have so little, had respect for the devices and simply used them as if they have been using them for months.  While they trained the teachers, my son, nephew and I kept over 60 children busy playing (they wore us out every day!)  We then helped support the children in their classes as they needed help with the tablets, and we were certain to praise their successful efforts.

What was the best part of your trip?

When any of those kids smiled they looked so beautiful and had so much to not smile about — they had a special glow about them that touched your heart, brought joy, then made you cry out of love. That was my best part.  I brought my son with me, and Lindsay brought her brother with her.  We not only enjoyed spending that time together, but shared in a very special moment – one we will never forget.  It was very humbling, and I want to go back as soon as I can to experience the true joy of it all and those beautiful children.

Anything else you would like to add? 

What great work RetailROI has done and will continue to do!  When people get involved in any way they can, they’ll experience some amazing things in their life.  Thank you, thank RetailROI, thank these retailers and solution providers, and thank those who take the initial step and don’t ask whether they can do it or not. Sometimes you just buckle up and go, and then when that roller coaster stops, you cannot wait to do it again.  If I can do it, clearly anyone can…we all can!

What’s Happening in Retail: May’s Biggest Stories

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

At Ketner Group, we are not ashamed to admit that we get a bit geeky when it comes to new retail stories and technology implementations. It seems like every week there are retailers that have made the move to make mobile or omni-channel technologies part of their business operations, feature stories on retail movers and shakers or ground-breaking research on what consumers want and expect from their favorite retailers and brands.

Here is a quick look at recent and notable retail stories from the past month:

RIS News – “The Five Most Powerful Women in Retail“
Recently reported in RIS News, women increasingly hold the top positions across the retail industry and are influencing society like never before. Forbes’ annual look at the most powerful women in the world is chock full of politicians, philanthropists, media personalities, technologists, and five retailers. The five retailers named to the coveted list were:

  • #64 Rosalind Brewer, CEO, Sam’s Club, Walmart Stores
  • #75 Miuciia Prada, owner, fashion designer, Prada
  • #76 Carol Meyrowitz, CEO, TJX
  • #79 Tory Burch, CEO, Tory Burch
  • #93 Sara Blakely, founder, Spanx

Retail Touchopoints – “EBay Urges Users To Change Passwords Following Database Hack”
Retail Touchpoints recently reported that E-Commerce giant eBay has confirmed that one of its databases was compromised by a cyberattack between late February and early March 2014. As a result, the company is asking users to change their account passwords as a precaution. he company said there is no evidence of unauthorized access to financial or credit card information, which is stored separately in encrypted formats, according to an announcement on the company blog. There has been no indication of increased fraudulent activity on the eBay site.

Internet Retailer – “China Officially Passes the U.S. in E-Commerce”
According to Internet Retailer and reports from China’s Ministry of Commerce, online retail sales in China totaled $296.57 billion in 2013, 13% more than U.S. e-retail sales of $262.51 billion. Official estimates of 2013 online retail sales, Chinese consumers now buy more online than do their U.S. counterparts.

Online retail sales in China in 2013 totaled 1.85 trillion yuan ($296.57 billion) in 2013, representing 41.2% growth from 2012—triple the growth rate of overall retail sales in China, according to the Ministry of Commerce. China’s online shopping total is 13.0% more than 2013 U.S. e-retail sales of $262.51 billion, which grew 16.9% in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Retail Customer Experience – “Target Forms New Digital Advisory Council”
Recently reported in Retail Customer Experience, Target Corp. announced it has formed a Digital Advisory Council. According to the company, the panel of technology industry leaders will help guide Target’s omnichannel strategies and push Target to innovate faster, and discover new ways to leverage technology to enhance the guest experience, both online and in stores. The council includes experts with varied tech backgrounds, and is comprised of:

  • Ajay Agarwal, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures;
  • Amy Chang, CEO/co-founder of Accompani; formerly led Google Analytics;
  • Roger Liew, CTO of Orbitz Worldwide; and
  • Sam Yagan, CEO of the Match Group and CEO/founder of OkCupid.

Mobile Marketing Magazine – Forrester Predicts $114bn of US Mobile Purchases During 2014
According to a recent Forrester report and reported in Mobile Marketing magazine, Purchases made on smartphones and tablets in the US will hit $114bn (£68bn) in 2014, according to a report from Forrester. Despite the lower number of regular tablet users than smartphone owners in the US – currently around 100m and 200m respectively – Forrester expects two-thirds of this revenue, $76bn, to come from tablets due to their larger screens and form factors better suited for shopping. It’s worth noting that mobile users making purchases on their devices are still in the minority – 38 per cent of smartphone owners and 31 per cent of tablet owners in 2014. However, those figures are expected to rise to 55 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively, pushing total mCommerce revenues in the US to $293bn.

Stay tuned next week for updates on the top news stories from the upcoming IRCE show. The Ketner Group team will be in Chicago for the annual event! If you are there, give us a shout @ [email protected].

 

Meet Jennifer Luskey

Posted on | by Ketner Group

My name is Jennifer Luskey and I am a second semester senior at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a degree in public relations and a Business Foundations Certificate. Growing up in small town Midland, Texas my life was full of football and the oil business. My love for football has grown even more while watching the Longhorns play at the DKR Stadium. On any given day you can find me venturing to different Austin restaurants, spending time with friends and family or running on Town Lake. After graduation in May, I hope to find a job in the field of public relations, working with the community and children.

While in college, I spent a semester in Sevilla, Spain, where I learned to adapt to new situations and undertake unfamiliar challenging tasks. I lived with and went to school with all Spanish-speaking locals and also had the opportunity to travel around Europe. My favorite traveling experience was when I went to Morocco, Africa for four days and was completely immersed in the culture. We stayed with local families and talked with many of their young adults about the similarities and differences in our cultures. Walking around the city with them and seeing their day to day lives was an incredible way to get to know more about their culture and way of life.  It was an eye-opening experience that I will never forget.

I have dedicated many summers of my life to Greene Family Camp, a Jewish summer camp, in Bruceville, Texas. Being a camper for 10 years and a counselor for the last three has helped me earn different fellowships and take leadership roles among the campers and staff members.  Most recently, I was a unit Supervisor where I oversaw 50 staff members and over 250 campers all summer. Currently, I spread my love for Judaism to younger kids by participating in a service corps for the Union for Reform Judaism.  I work with a local synagogue to mentor students and raise the number of children who attend camps.

Working with people and continuing my education are two passions that I have in life and Ketner Group is incorporating both of them! I am excited to use what I’ve learned from my college classes in real life experiences and I know that the team at Ketner Group will help me excel.  I am looking forward to putting my new knowledge from Ketner Group into the next stages of my life. The people have been so welcoming and I feel like I am already part of their team! Jennifer

Back From Abroad: New Thoughts on the PR World I Thought I Knew

Posted on | by Ketner Group | 1 Comment on Back From Abroad: New Thoughts on the PR World I Thought I Knew

Time flies when you’re having fun. It also flies when you’re travelling nine countries and 17 cities in 56 days.  After two exquisitely eye-opening months abroad, I can honestly say I welcomed my return to Austin with open arms. A chaotic and life-changing few months turned out to be some of the most incredible and invaluable experiences that I’ll never forget. Graduation. Two months abroad. Full-time employment.  It’s been quite a ride! And I have no intention of getting off anytime soon. “What did you learn?” you might ask? Many of you have traveled the globe and discovered something completely unique from the person next to you on the plane, so I certainly don’t present my experiences with an elitist tone, but as an honest representation of my thoughts and feelings toward the journey as a whole.

From the many places I explored, people I met and food I ate, the most important thing I learned from my travels is this: Embrace the urge to see the world and try new things, but remember your roots and return home appreciating your life for all that it gives you, especially the people who make it worthwhile. If you were wondering, yes, I’m a cheeseball and a sap.

While I’ll always long for walking the narrow alleys of some far off destination, lying on an exotic beach, or hiking up to a beautiful view in some foreign countryside, I’m happily jumping into my newly minted PR career – that’s right, folks! You’re stuck with me hanging around Ketner Group for a while. What better way to return from a summer abroad? As my first blog post, I thought it might be fitting to highlight just a couple ideas that not only helped me get by in Europe but can apply to a successful career in PR as well.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. The saying, “there’s no such thing as a stupid question,” holds true in this case (while on another note, I’m a believer that questions you already know the answer to are actually stupid). It’s easy and perfectly O.K. to be lost, in any sense of the word, but if you want to be found you’ll have to put in some old fashioned hard work. You may be surprised to hear this, but people genuinely DO want to offer their help! You’ve just got to learn to feel comfortable, and not like a failure, asking for it.

In a niche PR market such as retail technology, you need to be able to ask questions about your clients’ product, a new service, how that platform works, how this process brings about this result, etc. Don’t be afraid of looking silly or uninformed; asking a question now is better than facing a potentially costly, humiliating and probably avoidable mistake later. A good client knows this and is almost always happy to breakdown the details for you.

Resourcefulness is close to Godliness. Okay, so I may have muddled up that proverb, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true! From using shampoo as face wash and leave-in conditioner as body lotion, to putting my basic Spanish vocabulary to good use in the Czech Republic, I learned to get what I was looking for in the most random yet oddly effective ways.

PR is a field where thinking on your feet is an absolute necessity. Whether it’s a new take on a seemingly trite piece of information or a way to get more bang for your clients’ buck, resourcefulness is a key advantage to doing your job and doing it well. Not only can an inventive approach to your communications strategy keep your work spicy and irresistible (like the Tex-Mex I so desperately craved while away from Austin), it can save you and your clients valuable time and money in the long run. By using time and resources efficiently, you open up more hours that can be devoted to a social media ramp-up or a refreshing and productive brainstorming sesh that you previously had no time to explore.

After getting my degree in public relations and interning in the industry for a couple years, I thought I had a pretty accurate grasp on what the communications field was truly all about. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but what’s more important is to understand not only where public relations is now, but where it’s going. I’m still so green in this well-toiled field of PR, but I’m dying to see what’s next and plan to do my part advancing the industry and keeping Ketner Group pushing full speed ahead. I hope this post can inspire some of you do the same! Never give up on a successful career, but take any and every opportunity to travel – it might surprise you how you’ll be affected!

I’ll wrap things up with the Mark Twain quote my KG team members so thoughtfully decorated my desk with on my last day before jetting off to the other side of the pond:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Cheers to the next chapter, whatever you choose yours to be!

#KeepPRWeird: Top 3 Take-Aways from PRSA 2013 Southwest District Conference

Posted on | by Ketner Group

I’m on the PRSA Austin Chapter board and gladly volunteered to serve on the planning committee for the PRSA 2013 Southwest District Conference, which was June 5-7. I had an exciting job as the Special Events Committee Chair, which means that I got to plan the social events. What conference goes without networking and happy hours?

And what networking happy hour goes without a life-size poster board of John Wayne? He went with us everywhere!

Here’s a small group of us keeping it strictly business, of course, at Lustre Pearl during our Rainey Street Pub Crawl. That’s me in the cowgirl hat and glow sticks (yep, glow sticks).

To get back to the REAL reason PR pros from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and more gathered in the capital city of Texas, we were there to learn how to “Keep PR Weird,” which was the official conference slogan. Not only did David Lieber, Watchdog Investigative Columnist at Dallas Morning News, say that #KeepPRWeird was the best conference slogan he’s seen in 20 years, it was trending locally for both Twitter and Instagram (thanks to our Pub Crawl photo contest), so check out the conversations!

If I had to take three lessons home from the conference, it’d be these:

1. Storytelling is everything.

Stories are the reason humankind has some idea of our past. From the beginning of time, humans have been passing on important information through stories–whether it was carvings in a rock, through song or written down. We still share and remember important information through stories, and we’re wired to think that way. David Lieber, the opening keynote speaker, emphasized the importance of companies and brands telling their stories. Each story should have a hero/heroine, and the story should have a beginning, climax and end. Make sure to describe the problem you’re solving and illustrate the challenges that brought you where you are today–it makes your company seem much more human. And people crave that human touch.

2. Measurement of Social Media? Possible!

Angela Jeffrey, APR, Senior Counsel for CARMA International, presented a session titled, “The R Social Media ROI.” This was a really useful session, because all PR people know what a headache it can be to try and measure anything in PR, let alone social media. Angela is a fan of the AMEC Social Media Valid Framework, and if you are unfamiliar with it, you can read up on it at AMEC.org (a very helpful presentation) or take a look at Angela’s PR News article that breaks it down nicely. According to Angela, “The philosophy behind the guidelines states that to truly demonstrate the value of PR, metrics need to be linked to the business objective of the program, and move beyond measuring outputs to measuring outcomes. The Framework helps you identify suitable metrics for PR and social media programs that take you from cursory to meaningful measures that resound with the C-suite and help you refine your programs.”

Angela gave attendees a very specific 8 step process for measuring social media activity:

  1. Define organizational goals
  2. Research stakeholders and prioritize
  3. Set specific objectives for each key stakeholder group
  4. Set traditional/social media KPIs against each objective
  5. Choose tools and benchmark (using the AMEC Framework)
  6. Analyze the results and compare to costs
  7. Present to management
  8. Measure continuously and improve performance
To learn more about her process, visit MeasurementMatch.com and download her latest white paper.

3. An organization can survive a crisis through honesty and passion

The closing keynote was awesome. Katherine McLain, VP of Communications at Livestrong Foundation, spoke on how to overcome a crisis situation, especially when your organization relies on donations. Following the investigation into and admittance of Lance Armstrong’s doping use, the Livestrong Foundation took a hit. Ken Berger, President and CEO of Charity Navigator had said, “[They are] not going to be able to survive if the person who is behind the spirit of [the organization] is in trouble. It is just going to devastate them.” Ouch! What Livestrong ultimately did was focus on the positive: They are there to help people through difficult struggles in their lives. People with cancer. People who need the foundation to assist them with their fight. Livestrong developed a hashtag that helped position them above the controversy: #FightWithUs. They also developed videos that illustrated individual peoples’ battles with cancer. They focused on the positive, distanced themselves from the negative and marched on.

If you want to chat more about what I learned at the PRSA Southwest District Conference, hit me up on Twitter! @CaitlinNew

 

Retail’s Reinvention: Back to the Future?

Posted on | by Jeff Ketner

I’ve been reading and thinking about retail innovation a lot lately, which is no surprise. After all, many of our clients here at Ketner Group are retail tech companies, and retailers have been reinventing themselves at a furious pace in recent years as they seek new ways to compete with Amazon.

One of the things that intrigued me is a recent Reuters article about Walmart’s “radical plan” to have its customers deliver packages to online buyers. The plans are still in the early stages, but as the article explains, “shoppers could tell the retailer where they live and sign up to drop off packages for online customers who live on their route back home,” in exchange for a discount on their Walmart purchases. The retail giant’s ability to crowdsource its deliveries could make same-day delivery a reality, giving Walmart a potent edge over Amazon.

Will this plan ever see the light of day? At this point, it sounds far-fetched. But as one retail pundit pointed out, at least Walmart is thinking of creative ways to reinvent retail.

An article by retail futurist Doug Stephens draws an intriguing picture of what this future might look like. Stephens says “retail, as we’ve known it for at least the last two millenia, is coming to an end…it’s very clear to me that we are coming to a tipping point and data, processing power and connectedness lie at the center of it all.”

In the next decade, Stephens argues, retail will completely shift from a focus on ­physical and digital destinations and storefronts, to a focus on consumers as the ultimate destination. Instead of consumers deciding which stores and e-commerce sites to visit, retail will in essence start coming to us.

For example, according to Stephens, let’s say I’m on a business trip and my mobile device alerts me my anniversary is coming up in two days. A digital shopping assistant then springs into action—and it knows my wife’s shopping preferences so well that it presents a list of personalized gift suggestions in seconds, pulling information from a number of available storefronts. It finds the best available offer (my wife’s favorite fragrance on sale at Norstrom with a special bonus gift), then makes the purchase and arranges for the most convenient pickup or delivery option. The whole process takes under a minute.

It’s an intriguing vision from Stephens (aka The Retail Prophet). And the future that he describes is already taking shape. After all, the very best retailers compete for our business by analyzing our preferences, understanding our shopping habits, and delivering highly personalized recommendations and offers, sometimes anticipating our wants and needs before we even know we have them. (Check out the chapter, “How Target Knows What You Want Before You Do,” in Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit for a fascinating account of how Target analyzes consumer data.)

With all these innovations, though, it seems to me that retailers are simply trying to recapture an era where individual store owners recognized their customers by name, knew their shopping preferences by heart, and conducted business as a series of highly individualized, one-to-one transactions. In earlier days, retail was a highly personal business, and merchant’s storefronts were focal points not just of commerce, but community. Did shoppers need something delivered to their home the same day? No problem, the store owner could arrange it. Did you almost forget your wife’s birthday? Luckily, your local retailer had a timely gift suggestion when you called in a last-minute panic.

So as retail reinvents itself, it’s really just trying to get back to its roots, seeking new ways to make large-scale, mass-market retailing more personal and intimate. Technology may be the enabler, but in the end, what retailers are really doing is going back to the future.

Introducing KG’s Newest Blog Series: PR 101

Posted on | by Ketner Group

The KG Team is excited to introduce a content series for our PB&J Blog. “PR 101: Back to Basics”. Think back to your days in school: sitting in class, working on a campaign, writing all those press releases. Now think about the first year of your full-time job in PR… We’d be willing to bet you encountered more than a few concepts that threw you for a loop! We’ve all had our moments of panic when sitting in that first client meeting: bylines, analyst briefings, ed cals. What analysts? And what’s a byline?

“PR 101: Back to Basics” is a blog series designed to better prepare current PR students for the industry, as well as help professionals, green or well-seasoned, to enhance and expand their knowledge of PR. In this series, we’ll be profiling different topics that we feel would be beneficial to young PR professionals as well as vets who have been around the block, so to speak. We’d love to hear your thoughts on significant industry knowledge that would be helpful to highlight! Do you remember a specific instance when you were expected to know something on the job that you weren’t taught in school? Is there a topic you think gets pushed aside in our industry that you feel we should discuss? A penny for your thoughts! Or maybe a shout out on our blog will do.

If you’ve ever felt like Lucy at the chocolate factory, we understand. Feeling overwhelmed at work is normal, so no need to stuff all those truffles in your hat, or all those ed cals in a deep, dark, secret folder in Outlook. PR 101: Back to Basics will help you wrap those chocolate, and eat them, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KG is on a mission to end uncertainty and encourage real world knowledge in PR! We hope you can all get involved for this series, and follow us along the way with your comments and feedback! Tweet us at @PBJblog or @KetnerGroupPR using the hashtag #KGPR101 with your thoughts!

Attention Tech Companies: DO NOT – I repeat – DO NOT Launch at SXSW

Posted on | by Ketner Group

This blog post is reposted from Laura Beck’s shirtshorts blog. See Laura’s awesome fan-wear business at stripedshirt.com. Also, check out what Ketner Group has to say about SXSWi on our Be Spectacled page.

After 18+ years working for PR agencies, Laura Beck is focused on independent marketing and PR consulting as well as running her own commerce business, www.stripedshirt.com. Until May 2010, she ran the Austin Texas office of Porter Novelli for nearly 10 years.

 

I’m not kidding this just happened to me: this morning, last day of SXSW Interactive 2012, I get an urgent plea from a friend helping a friend who’s “PR firm dropped the ball” b/c the client was ticked no one wrote about them yet, and they needed to call in some favors, get some coverage. This client launched at SXSW (and I’m not making this up): a Smartphone app that’s a free mobile guide for events, complete with location based mapping and social media integration. iPhone only now, but coming soon for iPad, Android.

SERIOUSLY? You and about 2,000 other companies.

This one, is irritated with their PR people for not getting them enough coverage, especially after they got 50 requests for beta day 1. 50??? SXSW attracts over 20,000 tech people. 50? You are but a speck of sand on the beach, in so many ways.

Now, I feel for this PR person or firm, but really, ultimately, it’s their own fault, and here’s where this public service announcement blog post come in handy. Read it, believe it, remember it, and PLEASE please preach it from now on, for all the rest of us PR folks, and the press and bloggers, and the betterment of the tech companies of today and tomorrow.

DO NOT Launch at SXSW

The odds of you “being the next Twitter” are slim to none. And remember, that big moment for Twitter at SXSW 2007 wasn’t its launch anyway. Jack sent the first tweet a full year earlier. SXSW 2007 is just when that “hockey stick moment” happened for Twitter and everyone has been trying to replicate that magic ever since. YOU CANNOT. It was MAGIC. This stuff sometimes happens at SX, often times does not.

Last year, you could argue Group.me and Uber were the buzz, but holy cow they put the money down to do so, whether hundreds of free grilled cheese sandwiches or branding every pedi cab in town. This year, this sweet delusional mobile apps company is competing against Amex launching Sync with freaking JAY Z. Seriously? How can anyone compete with that?

So, again, DO NOT LAUNCH AT SXSW. Or at least do not come expecting traditional PR, press and blogger meetings or coverage. Just do us a favor, and do not come here with those unrealistic expectations that kill us all.

But come! SXSW is an amazing 10 days, 5 (or more) of just us tech folks. There are 20,000 people here, and over 2,000 of em are press, bloggers, influencers. And they are here to meet, and talk, and network. BUT NOT TO BE PITCHED, not to commit to a sit down briefing or meeting.

They come once a year to Austin to put faces with names, meet the companies they covered last year, get their research in for companies to cover in the future, LEARN, and network. They want to spend time with the tech community, with each other.

They will not commit to time with you or make a packed schedule (or shouldn’t) because at SXSW, you don’t know what’s coming at you when. You need to be fluid and flexible, and go with what happens. Enjoy the ride.

So PR people, please counsel your clients. And companies listen and learn. COME to SXSW, use it as an opportunity to talk to anyone and everyone about what you are up to, what you care about, and LISTEN to what they care about too. Talk with the masses, and tell them about your company, your apps, your tools, your location based social discovery smart phone apps. Do take advantage of the feeding frenzy that is 20,000 people combing the streets of Austin as awareness building, branding, marketing, stunts.

Enjoy the ride and that it is so crazy. Do not torture your PR person asking where “so and so” is, and why “such and such” didn’t agree to a meeting. Do not come here thinking you are the next Twitter, or Amex Sync. Just come, and enjoy the experience, and respect the rest of us (including the press and analysts) doing the same. With the influencers, meet them, let them know you love their writing or read their story last week. Build relationships that will last you your tech life time. But don’t pitch them or ask them for anything. Not this week.

I have done SXSW now since 2004. I have seen the show grow like crazy. I still love it. But maybe that’s because I play it right. Along with friends, I created an event each night for a smaller group of people, including national – and local – press, bloggers, analysts, influencers, VIPs where you can go to just talk with people, hang out, catch up. A “no pitch zone.” I do the same at any other events I hit, I enjoy the moment, don’t party hop or try to catch Leo or Tobey. I don’t look over my shoulder the entire time I’m talking with someone to see if anyone better is there. And I decline any PR project that comes my way that involves “launching at SXSW.” I have a lot of press friends who I hope respect and like me, because I will NOT call in favors or abuse their time here at SXSW (or anytime).

Please keep this blog URL, PR peeps and tech entrepreneurs, because I promise, if you’ve gotten to the bottom and agree with me, you’ll forget by SXSW 2013. Or you’ll talk with someone who doesn’t know, hasn’t been here, and will need this advice. It’s easy to get caught in the glamour of imaging you doing the PR for the next Twitter, being the “Next Big Thing At SXSW.” But those odds are very slim, rare and Magic! DO NOT Launch at SXSW. Rather, just come and enjoy the experience. It’ll serve you way better in the future, and over the crazy 5 days we live every March.

Social Media Scores as an Effective Marketing Tool

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds
super-bowl-social-media
Image courtesy of Branding Magazine

Super Bowl XLVII Shines in the Dark: Social Media Scores as an Effective Marketing Tool

Here is a statistic that will blow you away: According to a study from the Mobile Marketing Association and Session M, during the Super Bowl, a whopping 91% of viewers used their mobile devices during the commercial breaks!

After hearing this, one thing is for sure – we love our mobile phones as much as, or even more, than my three-year old son loves his special security “blankie.” Speaking from personal experience, when it comes to any highly-anticipated sporting event or celebrity-fueled telecast (such as the upcoming Academy Awards), my iPhone is never too far away. My need for instant gratification and social connection leads me to constantly check out what my friends are saying on Facebook and to make my own witty comments about the details of the event.

We all know that the Super Bowl commercials have become just as important to the overall event experience as the game itself, especially now with the saturation of mobile devices and social media. Brand marketers and advertisers have certainly stepped up their digital media game in recent years, and last Sunday was no exception. A few highlights:

Instant Advertising through Social Media
After the Super Dome lost power at the beginning of the third quarter, the quick-thinking team at digital ad agency, 360i, posted a picture of an Oreo cookie on Twitter with the tagline “You can still dunk in the dark,” moving from concept to posting in five minutes. Raise your hand if you were craving some Oreos and milk after seeing that posting! The ad became a viral hit, retweeted more than 15,000 times in the first 14 hours. Other brands tried to take advantage of the 34-minute game delay through Twitter, including Calvin Klein, Tide and Volkswagen – but none of them seemed to have the same affect that the Oreo ad did.

Online Contests and Customer Interactions: A New Focus on Online Integrated Marketing
While watching the commercials, I noticed that many brands developed advertisements that directed viewers to their websites for a more interactive experience. Coca-Cola held an online poll to vote for the ending of its commercial, asking viewers to select which one of the three groups in the ad (cowboys, showgirls and badlanders) would win a race across the desert to reach a bottle of Coke.  Oreo again received rave reviews for their commercial that asked viewers to vote, via Instagram, whether they preferred the cookie or the cream part of the Oreo. After the cookie vs. cream campaign, Oreo gained more than 50,000 followers on Instagram.

The TV spot for CBS’ new show, Under the Dome, directed its viewers to visit www.UndertheDome.com

and enter your address to see what your home would look like under an actual dome. I did this and saw my house under a dome similar to what was shown on the commercial. I really don’t know what the show is all about, but the TV spot left an impression on me so I will probably check out the first episode.

Overall, the notion of online integrated marketing seemed to resonate with Super Bowl viewers. According to social marketing solutions provider, SocialCode, brands that advertised during the big game saw Facebook fan increases 2.7 times higher than non-advertisers, when compared with previous fan growth.

The Second Screen Super Bowl Wins
Super Bowl XLVII has been deemed the “Second Screen Super Bowl” meaning that CBSSports.com, for the first in Super Bowl history, provided a digital live stream of the game, as well as all of the TV ads and the halftime performance. This second screen experience gave fans new ways to interact with the big game and generate as much as $10 to $12 million for CBS.

What were some of your highlights from Super Bowl XLVII? Any forecasts for how NBC might try to checkmate CBS on the digital media front during the 2014 Winter Games? 

Originally posted on Digby’s blog, The Mobile Retail Blog by Catherine Seeds

Vine: The New Social Sensation?

Posted on | by Ketner Group

VineWell we’ve just begun 2013 and a starlet app has already hit the social scene. Vine is the new kid on the block everyone is talking about – could it be the next big thing in social sharing? It’s still too early to tell, but the mobile technology industry seems to think this Twitter spinoff has a pretty good shot.

Vine is a video creation platform designed to let users record 6-second video clips or GIF-like spots and share them to the social sphere. After its January 2013 release by Twitter, the industry hype surrounding the app has been on the rise. Other social video products, like SocialCam and Viddy, have been circulating the mobile sharing community as early as 2011. These platforms gained momentum rapidly, but after the launch of the social media giant’s own video app, the chances of survival have dwindled drastically. Viddy has experienced the most significant blow to followers and finances after supposedly turning down a buyout by the very company that is putting it out of business.

Brands like Trident and Wheat Thins have already jumped on the Vine train, and more companies are on their way to implementing the new social feature on Twitter. While the video application offers a unique outlet to not only promote products and services, Vine does come with bugs and burdens as new platforms typically do. Some non-Apple mobile devices have seen difficulty viewing the clips and other issues involve the inappropriate or unintended use of Vine for explicit content. Vine has its concerns, but the possibilities for future use are potentially endless. Specifically, the entertainment industry is interested to see how this new face of social sharing will impact music marketing.

So will Vine become another addition to the list of failed “Instagram for video” platforms, or will this new app see a consistent following in the coming months? Only time will tell, but KG looks forward to observing the role Vine will play at the fast-approaching SXSW Interactive Festival!