Category Archives: Mikinzie Stuart

Mikinzie Stuart

Could ConAgra Happen to You?

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By now everyone has heard about the ConAgra-Ketchum crisis and forwarded it along to their consumer clients as a cautionary tale.But if you’ve been living under a rock for the past week and missed the public smearing (NYT, HuffPo, Gawker, PRWeek, Business Insider, to name a few) here’s the nutshell version:Ketchum planned a bait and switch stunt with celebrity chef George Duran being the bait and Marie Callender’s frozen food line being the switch. Taking note from other major food brands like Pizza Hut and Domino’s and hoping for similar success, ConAgra thought the invited bloggers would be pleasantly surprised by the quality of their meals and the company hoped they would be able to use the footage for promotional videos on YouTube and its Web site.

They weren’t pleasantly surprised but they did spread buzz – the bad kind. Continue reading →

Mikinzie Stuart

The BronxZoosCobra IS Dead

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Okay, not really. But even if the Bronx Zoo’s cobra isn’t actually dead, the buzz about her is.

If you work in the NYC area or read the news, chances are you’ve heard about of the escape and capture of the Bronx Zoo’s Cobra. If you have, it’s as likely that you’ve also heard her voice as @BronxZoosCobra when she slithered onto the social networks. Not only did the “snake who tweets” become a hot topic and easy news peg for major news sites such as The Wall Street Journal and NYTimes, but she sparked many a conversation about social media in our own circles, including raising the question of whether the person behind the reptile would make a good communications hire.

But is obtaining 240K Twitter followers in seven days a tell-tale sign of social media prowess? No, it’s not and here’s why: Continue reading →