Category: Blog

In today’s commercial world, some might think the reason for this holiday weekend is to give retailers a chance to sell mattresses at a discount or more beer for your holiday cookout.

A visit to the Lawton House in a Oviedo brings this weekend into sharp focus. For the second year in a row, the historic house in Oviedo is hosting a tribute to the men and women of Florida who have paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.

There will be a Memorial Day service at 9 AM Saturday to honor all of our fallen heroes. The crosses on Lawton’s front lawn are an important reminder of the dedication and sacrifice Americans are willing to give to protect our freedom – both here at home and around the globe.

 
Jim Vanderbleek built more than 370 crosses – one for every military member from Florida who died while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each cross holds a wreath created by 17 year old Conner MacFarlane and refurbished by his 14 year old sister Chloe. One of the crosses is in honor of their father, who died in Afghanistan in 2012.

The Memorial Day events are a joint effort of the First United Methodist Church of Oviedo’s Military Support Team, area churches, Jim Vanderbleek and Girl Scout Troop 538.

The Lawton house is located at 200 West Broadway.

 

A dedicated group of women tackles a tremendous task year after year for a cause they adore. Along the way they have made the Orlando Museum of Art the place to go to kick off the holiday season.

The Council of 101, a volunteer fundraising arm of the museum, hosts the Festival of Trees annually each November.  For nearly three decades, the group has decked the halls of the art museum with lavishly trimmed trees, exquisite gingerbread homes and fanciful holiday wreaths. It is sight to behold!

The hard work of the council – as well as countless number of designers that make the trees and holiday goodies – have raised millions to support the operation of the museum and help the Loch Haven Park cultural center thrive.

The Festival runs through Sunday, November 24. Youngsters can visit Santa, while mom and dad can get inspiration for their holiday decorating.  Better yet, you can buy a tree and have it delivered right to your home!

The Festival got off to a rousing start with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer lighting the signature tree.  See the fun for yourself and know you are doing your part to support the arts in Orlando here: http://youtu.be/OZm9XOsOaaI

For more information about Festival of Trees, please visit: http://www.omart.org/events/festival-trees-glitters

 

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.

Even some of the biggest heads in the business will find themselves out of a job if they don’t help sales.

Just ask the Burger King.

The King was dethroned recently, after his wacky, teen-targeting commercials weren’t pulling in customers. Sales for Burger King are down 6 percent in the first quarter. These ads were replaced with the California Whopper, a serious image twist touting fresh and favor-full ingredients.

It’s all about the change in the market. You can see the “Whole Foods effect” in all the top advertising campaigns; McDonald’s, Subway and even 7-eleven.

Sorry King, we like your commercials full of silly antics, but they certainly did not have us in the drive thru.

We would like to welcome Cori Pope to the Wellons Communications team.

Cori is a veteran TV broadcaster from Texas who moved to Florida to pursue new career opportunities.  As a PR Specialist, she will manage accounts for the hospitality, health, education and technology industries.

Prior to coming to Wellons Communications, Cori worked at the NBC affiliate in Midland, Texas.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Texas Tech University.

Cori continues our commitment to hire former journalists to provide PR, media relations and content support for our nationwide clients.  Her strong broadcast background and her work on the station’s website were key elements in bringing Cori onboard.

Welcome, Cori!

–by Sarah Harmon, Account Executive at Wellons Communications

As an over-eager 20-something working in public relations—and with several exciting clients at Wellons Communications—I thought I knew it all. My axiom: The better the story; the better the media coverage.

Enter “silly bandz.”

The generation gap must cut off at 27 because I just don’t get it. These are multi-colored rubber bands shaped like animals, food, musical instruments and anything else not resembling a circle. And at nearly 4 bucks a pop and up, they’re the hottest accessories (worn around the wrist, I’m told) since slap bracelets and biker shorts.

On the surface, there’s no story. I mean, seriously, we’re talking rubber bands here. Yet these silicone squigglies take up entire feature stories in The New York Times, CBS News and the Orlando Sentinel (with a focus on the Disney bandz, of course).

While the better stories are still going to get the most attention, this goes to show you—with enough hype—almost anything can sell.

Jump on the Wellons Communications “bandz” wagon by joining us on Facebook and Twitter.