Wellons team, Author at Wellons Communications | Orlando PR Firm

Facebook finding out teens are not a sure thing

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Wellons team

The popularity of social media sites for younger demographics are as fickle as a teenage romance. The USA Today reported that teens are now looking beyond Facebook. They are looking for cooler sites, perhaps where parents are not monitoring their every move or off-color comment.

Facebook, which is under increasing scrutiny after its disappointing IPO, is seeing its growth rate slow. Facebook’s unique visitors are up a mere 5 percent over the previous year, according to researcher Comscore.

What does all this mean for businesses that are just starting to dip their toes into social media? If your core audience is a younger demographic, you need to constantly monitoring the ups and downs of social media, so you can best reach your audience.

For other businesses, the best approach is to have a marketing plan, review it regularly and stick to your plan.

Business owners should always keep their eye on the bottom-line, and consistently ask themselves, “What do all these twists and turns mean for my sales opportunities?” It is likely that by the time businesses have ramped up to meet a social media trend the younger demo has already moved on to the next hot thing.

Facebook frenzy in the Zimmerman case

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Wellons team

Social media sites have transpired past our everyday lives and into the courtrooms. Just look at the Trayvon Martin case and current trial against his killer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman’s team of lawyers has now entered the social media fray by creating a blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts to interact with the public, sparking interest and conversation. Recently, the George Zimmerman Legal Case shared a link on their Facebook to a blog article about Zimmerman’s abandoned Myspace page. In just four hours, the post had one share, seven “likes” and 93 comments.

With that said, the Zimmerman defense team may have bitten off more than it can chew. Media exposure has made George Zimmerman a household name and the face of evil. Their tactic of trying to shape public opinion of the most vilified man in the nation is an admirable effort, but the consequences have revealed that these social media labors can be detrimental to their cause. With dozens (sometimes hundreds) of comments popping up every time something is posted, we can see that the perception of Zimmerman continues to spread and swell. The handler of the Facebook account is threatening that any discussion or speculation on the facts of the case will be deleted, but that is not enough to control the catalyst of negative opinions brought on by every post.

Only time will tell how George Zimmerman’s legal defense team will handle such heightened criticism of their high-profile client and whether their online efforts will pay off. Either way, this case has certainly proven to be an interesting experience showcasing the evolution of social media.

Reputation Management in a Modern World

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Wellons team

“Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended.”
– Benjamin Franklin, “Poor Richard’s Almanack”

Long gone are the days where figureheads of corporations remain in the shadows. Now, news outlets and the public are putting the spotlight on these bigwigs, often exposing their misdeeds in the process.

Best Buy is a recent example of this. Two weeks ago, the CEO of the consumer electronics giant, Brian Dunn, resigned after the company opened an investigation into his “personal conduct.” There was speculation that he misused company assets to contribute to an alleged relationship with a female subordinate.

Another high-profile case involves University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino, who was recently fired from his multi-million dollar gig for violating a morals clause. The crime? He had a secret affair with a recruiting coordinator for the Arkansas football team.

These examples highlight two important lessons related to reputation management and the media. First, political leaders are no longer the only ones to have their personal lives catapulted to the front page; no one is safe from the scrutinizing eyes of the customers or shareholders. In fact, everything from financial records to emails to cell phone text messages can sometimes be fair game to the press thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.

Good reputation management involves being aware of the fact that nefarious activities in your personal life can easily cross-pollinate to news outlets and spread like a virus. It takes just one blow to your credibility to dismantle the years of hard work building that reputation.

Secondly, we learn how personal reputation is not the only concern in these scenarios. As shown from the Dunn and Petrino issues, organizations believe their image is tied to that of their employees. This is nothing new, as noted by Cees B.M. van Riel and Charles J. Fombrun in their 2007 publication, “Essentials of Corporate Communications.” They termed the phrase “media mania” to refer to this trend of how companies and their top executives now perform in the media spotlight. The book also states that chief executive officers in particular act as spiritual and emotional symbols of the organization, so it is especially important that these figures adhere to the same values and ethics of the companies they represent.

In this day and age, technology has allowed media outlets to report and deliver news instantly, which means they are quick to pounce on breaking scandals in politics, corporations and even football fields. Organizations have certainly taken notice and become more critical with media monitoring and reputation management, showcasing how they may react to threats by removing scandal-plagued employees from payroll, like what Best Buy and the University of Arkansas did to their offenders.

It also helps if the immoral acts weren’t committed in the first place, either.

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s know how to spice-up their brand image

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Wellons team

With so much advertisement constantly being produced, it can be difficult to target a specific demographic and receive the response your advertisements look for – difficult, that is, for everyone except Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.

Known for their racy ad campaigns featuring young female pop-culture icons, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s once again proved that they know who their target audience is, and they know how to capture their attention.

In the most recent Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s campaign, Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton appears in a classic drive-thru setting, eating a spicy Southwestern Patty Melt. The ad features Upton reacting provocatively to the “hot” sandwich, prompting many ad viewers to feel the heat.

Considering that the fast-food chain ads are targeting men ages 18-34, it’s no surprise that the campaign generated a lot of internet buzz. In fact, the campaign has been so popular that Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have enjoyed more than 120,000 new Facebook fans, a 104 percent increase in website visits and more than 5,000 Upton-and brand-related Tweets since the campaign launched.

The success of the campaign is an excellent example of how knowing your target audience and establishing your brand can propel any company into superstardom. What Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have accomplished is the difficult task of successfully targeting a very specific audience in such a well-developed way that a small portion of the population generates the most social and website traffic.

Without an understanding of their target audience, the amount of success Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have received as a result of the campaign would be impossible. Establishing a brand and staying true to that brand also factors in to the success of the campaign. The inclusion of young pop-culture females in their advertisements has become a staple in the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brand, and it is created quite a buzz.

Starbucks Beetle Juice has Vegans Seeing Red

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Wellons team

The world’s largest coffeehouse chain has the vegan community in an uproar…over Strawberry Frappuccinos®.

It was recently discovered that Starbucks has been using ground-up beetles for the coloring of this tasty treat. As disgusting as that sounds, the Cochineal Beetle is actually a very common, government-approved food coloring used in familiar foods, such as Yoplait Yogurts and Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts. It is also used to make more than 300 bright red lipsticks.

With the vegan community frothing over what was thought to be a veg-friendly drink, Starbucks now has an unexpected PR crisis on its hands. ThisDishIsVegetarian.com, among other websites, is buzzing about the beetle juice and announced to their readers not to drink it anymore. They are not trying to cause trouble; they just want to alert members.

Starbucks made the switch to using beetles in January to help get rid of artificial ingredients in their food and drinks. The coffee giant maintains it was simply trying to do the right thing. Nutrition experts say it was the right idea, but the wrong execution.

Starbucks’ good intentions have left them with a completely unintended public relations problem.

Groupon: Accounting principles up to 50 percent off

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Wellons team

Ok, so maybe the headline of this is tad unfair and technically incorrect. However, there is no denying that Groupon’s reputation has stung in recent days because the popular Chicago-based online coupon company overstated its financial position in its first quarter as a public company.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Groupon’s auditors discovered that the coupon company suffered a “material weakness in its internal controls” and did not set aside enough money for customer refunds. The size of this oops-worthy mistake was more than $14 million, the newspaper reported.

For companies that are trying to polish their accounting numbers to make them look as good as possible, there is a deep downside – bad PR that travels quickly. Reputations are hard to earn and quickly lost.

The numbers might have frustrated Google’s investors if the company had recorded their financials right the first time; however, it would also not be shown in a negative light at the front page of the leading financial newspaper.

Groupon should leave the deep discounting to specials. Deep discounting on accounting practices will lead to negative publicity that will last longer than the daily deal.

Are you a Pinner?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Wellons team

Pinterest is the newest social media craze sweeping the nation, with more than 11.7 million (and counting!) users since February creating pinboards to share images, videos and other objects of inspiration. As of today, even Barack Obama has an active account on the site, which he uses to share a family chili recipe, fan-created “ObamArt” and photos from political rallies.

According to Ignite research, the majority of Pinterest users are women between the ages of 25 and 34 with an annual household income of $25,000 to $75,000. However, Pinners aren’t just people. Businesses such as Nordstrom, Whole Foods and ModCloth have been flocking to the website in hopes of capturing the attention of this growing base of users.

If you are a company, Pinterest is especially attractive because the site helps to build word-of-mouth recommendations between users, which are the biggest drive of consumer purchases, said Geoffrey Colon, a vice president focusing on digital strategies at advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather.

“This means that there is an endless opportunity for your brand and its products to be seen by Pinterest’s 11.7 million unique monthly users as endorsements from friends in the form of repins,” he said at a recent Ogilvy presentation.

However, before you too decide to jump on the bandwagon and start pining for those Pinners, first a word of advice. Pinterest works best for highlighting visual content, so you must be able to showcase your brand and share your story through images. This works easily for restaurants, magazines, interior design studios and apparel companies. A picture of vintage décor or a hand-crafted cupcake will go a lot farther and garner more Pins than a word-heaving statement like a press release. Also a word of warning: post original content, or at least be wary when re-pining. Pinterest has recently tightened its copyright rules to protect itself against lawsuits, but that doesn’t extend to its users, so attribution for anything on your Pinboard is an absolute MUST.

Do you use Pinterest? If so, what do you post on your pinboard? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment on our Facebook page.

A call to marketers: do not discredit the new dad

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Wellons team

Recent findings have revealed that marketers should not be so quick to disregard dads as a target audience when it comes to advertising. New data from a study conducted by The Parenting Group and Edelman reveals that dads believe they are playing a bigger role than ever before helping out with household activities. When asked how often they are responsible for various tasks like grocery shopping, diaper changing and disciplining children, dads said the responsibilities were evenly split. What’s more, a staggering 82 percent of men whose oldest child is less than 2 years old believe an anti-dad societal bias exists. So not only do dads feel that they are equally contributing to the household, but also that they are being denigrated by society for it.

So what gives? Well, this concept is definitely not new to us. We can see why dads feel ignored when it comes to acknowledging their presence in the household. How often do you see commercials with men using Swiffers? Or doing the laundry? Even television sitcoms have helped to perpetuate negative portrayals of fatherly figures. Just look at Ray in “Everybody Loves Raymond,” or Hal on “Malcolm in the Middle,” or better yet everybody’s favorite animated father, Homer Simpson. Time and time again, these dads have been stereotyped as dopey, inept father figures.

The best way to fight this stale archetype is for marketers to embrace the new role of dads in society, as highlighted by research from The Parenting Group. Advertisers need to stop marketing solely to women and flippantly ignoring the growing population of males making household purchases. Just ask Huggies, who recently pulled a video from its Facebook after sparking outrage from disgruntled dads. The video poked fun at fathers by evaluating the strength of a diaper after a baby’s been alone with a dad for five days. It wasn’t long before a backlash of negative comments erupted and Huggies issued a formal apology on their Facebook recognizing that “a fact of real life is that dads care for their kids just as much as moms do” and should have an opinion on product performance too.

Well, at least someone gets it now.

“Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended.” – Benjamin Franklin, “Poor Richard’s Almanack”

“Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended.”
– Benjamin Franklin, “Poor Richard’s Almanack”