Resilience & Social Media

In today's technology-savvy world, both positive and negative media can go viral overnight. Although many corporations are heavily invested and intrigued by postive viral media, it's important to understand how to overcome the negative aspects of internet attention as well.

A great example is an incident faced by Dominos Pizza; in 2009 two employees were fired after a prank where they filmed a video of themselves contaminating food, later posted to YouTube and viewed by thousands. Dominos President, Patrick Doyle, promptly fired the employees and responded to the disturbing post by releasing an apology to customers, shown below:



Dominos' use of social media helped to restore and even improve the company's image prior to the employee prank crisis. By creating two-way communication between customers and corporation, Dominos further learned deeper issues customers had with the company. Again in response, Dominos launched a full fledged campaign to improve their products offerings and the perception of consumers [Check it out at PizzaTurnAround.com].

How to be resilient using social media:

1. Prepare. Discuss a resilience plan for when the time comes it is needed. Each corporation is different, big or small. Lay out a plan that fits the needs of both customers and employees.


2. Prevent. Specify who is responsible for updating all forms of utilized social media. If more than one person is involved in this process, coordinate efforts so no wires are crossed and no information is duplicated or misconstrued.


3. Predict. Try to remain one step ahead of other forms of media. It is always easier to be the first to admit to something before it is negatively displayed in an uncontrollable form, such as the Dominos videos leaked to YouTube. Predicting allows the issue to be acknowledged before it becomes a problem.


4. Listen-Address-Adapt. In the case of negative publicity, listen to the public. These are your customers and monetary income and they know what the want. It's important to address your consumer's voice and adapt to what they want and need.


5. Finally, remember to Change. Remaining stagnant in an internet-driven world is a fast track way to become obsolete. Continuing to upgrade through social media use keeps companies competitive and innovative in any industry.

OlioBoard Matches My Mood

I have a strange obsession with decorating when I'm bored or stressed, and OlioBoard satisfies my craving without requiring me to drop some major effort or dough. Also referred to as mood boards or vision boards... I'm a recent addict. The site even makes it possible to add specific brands or furniture pieces. Check out the one a friend created:

HINT HINT furniture stores and name brands! Excuse me while I decorate my future house...

Memorable Ads How-To

While watching television recently, a Hershey's Drops commercial got me thinking. Something about the commercial instantly reminded me of the classic Hershey's Kisses Christmas commercial. Three thoughts rapidly invaded my mind...

1. Branding success: The Drops commercial immediately reminded me of the Kisses Christmas commercial, and both fall under the same Hershey's name.


2. Stickiness: Simply put, the ad stuck. Within minutes I logged onto the internet and began writing. Five minutes later when pulling up the ad's YouTube link, I realized the song playing in the commercial was still resonating through my head. GENIUS.


3. The classics: Naturally, the Hershey's Kisses Christmas commercial led to an unstoppable succession of classic commercials running through my head.

QUICK! Think of three classic commercials. What three came to mind? My most memorable classic ads are as follows:

So what makes an ad memorable, and what made these three instant contenders in my mind? I think the same three criteria apply.

1) Apply to the brand. 2) Find a way to stick. 3) Play on emotional appeal to make an instant classic.

Although easier said than done, these three things will boost your advertisements as memorable to consumers.

Pandora's ADvantage

I am an avid Pandora listener. What a clever idea to create radio stations segmented to a user's personal tastes based on a genre, artist, or specific song.

Pandora clearly knows what they're doing. Although, a month ago I apparently listened too much, as the website only lets listeners utilize the site for 40 free hours per month (seriously, what's that about??). So I was forced to resort to Yahoo!Music.

I realized how annoying ads are when using online radio stations. Yahoo plays 3-5 ads in a row between songs and you're only allowed to skip songs about 6 times over the course of a few hours. However, Pandora allows listeners to "like" or "dislike" a song in order to better gauge user tastes, and users are also allowed to tell Pandora "I'm tired of this song" and the station puts the song on the shelf for a while. Their interruptings ads are only about 15-30 seconds, and I have a theory Pandora uses an algorithm to segment ads to users based on the type of genre, artist or song chosen.

Pandora's main ADvantage? The rich media sidebar ads are engaging and fun. Whether it's movie trailers or advertisements for social media, websites or products, the interaction is irresistable. And speaking for myself here, I actually want to play them [during work... guilty!]

Check it.

The Untimely Death of PowerPoint

I've recently spent ungodly amounts of time working with a (new?) technology called Prezi. This technology tweaks the concept of creating presentation materials through it's non-linear approach, contrasting PowerPoint's SLIDE, SLIDE, SLIDE method with more of a map-like appeal.

Prezi has three versions:

1. Prezi Public (FREE)
   
2. Prezi Enjoy ($59)
   
3. Prezi Pro ($159)
   

Cons: It's twitchy; launched in April 2009, Prezi has some serious kinks to fix. The graphics, characters and ready-made themes offered are limited. Paid subscription is yearly for Prezi Enjoy and Prezi Pro, therefore you must repay when your subscription ends. It's also difficult to make an outline of a Prezi presentation to give to listeners.

Pros: Prezi offers two formats: online accessibility and a down-loadable desktop version. Students and educators are given a free Prezi EDU license. Prezi is arguably more visually stimulating than other forms of presentation methods, and is often exciting and impressive to new viewers.

Overall, Prezi is a small step for digital technology, and a giant leap for presentations as a whole. Rest in peace, PowerPoint. You've met your match.

An Introduction of Sorts

In conclusion of my life as a college student, I have begun this blog as part of an assignment for a class called Digital Advertising. Stay tuned for my anecdotal perspective on humor in the world of digital creative.

To further preface, the goal of the assignment is to improve my digital skills including those of social media. Currently, my Klout score reads "10" with 36 followers on Twitter. The Klout analysis further describes me as, "actively engaged in the social web, constantly trying out new ways to interact and network," "exploring the ecosystem and making it work," and "the level of activity and engagement shows that you 'get it', Klout predicts you'll be moving up."

My plan: I will utilize Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to increase my reach in social media. This blog will specifically identify interesting online digital creative, among other chance findings.