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Unless you ignore social media, the internet, and sports (if so, who ARE you?), then you pretty much have heard about/seen the ending of Monday night’s Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks game. A summary:
A Hail Mary pass by the Seahawks is intercepted in the end zone by a Packers player; one referee says touchdown; the other calls it an interception. After replay, the ruling is a touchdown, game over. Seahawks win. Continue reading
Welcome to Friday and another edition of “The Summer Week That Was.” Aren’t we lucky to work in a profession where news is always plentiful? Here are this week’s top five news stories:
5. Shannon Eastin To Become First Female NFL Referee With An Asterisk
Everyone knows that the NFL is practically bending over backwards to appeal to their female audience. Can we attribute the decision to put the first woman referee (well, technically she will be a Field Judge) on the field as part of their massive and well-targeted PR campaign to women? Or is the decision to let Shannon Eastin participate due to the NFL referee lockout caused by a collective bargaining agreement dispute? I suspect it’s a little bit of both. In my opinion, a savvy PR move by the NFL.
4. CIOs reject social media for news gathering
Hold up there social media cowboy (or cowgirl). Are you telling me that IT-decision makers, a demographic you would logically think gathers information from social media resources, considers other sources outside of social media to be more valuable for news gathering? Looks as if this survey may turn conventional wisdom on its head about the shift towards social for information and research prior to making a purchase. At least for some demographics.
3. How Twitter talked about the Olympics (Infographic)
Holy rapid fire tweets. There is no doubt that Twitter has stole the show as the social media platform darling of the 2012 London Olympics. 2,000 tweets per minute? Over 28 million total tweets about the games? Insane numbers. And the 2nd half of the Olympics is just getting into full swing.
2. Alaska Airlines responds to ‘worst of humanity’ viral backlash
I thought this was an interesting story not from the perspective of how quickly Alaska Airlines responded to the criticism, not because social media fanned a firestorm of complaints and negativity for the brand and not due to the fact that an airline ranked #1 in customer satisfaction can experience a problem of this magnitude. My interest was how people flew off the handle without knowing the whole story and how industry regulations and gut perceptions that consumers are unaware of often drive decisions. Before you complain about something, make sure you know both sides of the story.
1. Rover Curiosity Sticks the Landing for NASA’s Public Relations
In case you hadn’t noticed, NASA has sort of become the red headed step-child of taxpayer angst over government spending. Mired in a two year slump and with a dearth of projects on its plate coupled with public disdain over its budget, NASA needed a little PR shot in the arm. They are after all, more focused on successes than PR campaigns but at this point in their history, they needed the Rover Curiosity landing to pump up perspective, which as you know, is the bread and butter of PR.
That’s it for us on this Friday afternoon. Enjoy the weekend and do something fun with family or friends. Before you know it, the sun will be going down at 5pm and we will all be slogging through the dreary winter longing for days like this where the warm sun shines and the ice cream tastes just a little bit better.
If you spent any time around the television (or your laptop) this weekend, you most likely were glued to the NFL Divisional Playoffs. One game in particular had my attention… The New York Giants versus the Green Bay Packers (cue NFL Films music).
Being a huge fan of G-Men, I was on the edge of my seat the whole game. However, it was one play that showed why social media is a great companion for sports broadcasts. With the Giants leading 3-0 in the first quarter, Packers receiver Greg Jennings apparently fumbled the football after a catch. Game referee Bill Leavy went to the replay booth to review it. Leavy decided that it wasn’t a fumble, despite the game broadcast showing multiple angles that the ball was coming out. Continue reading
As the NFL barrels toward a potential March 4 lockout (potentially leaving a comically ridiculous $9 billion in annual revenue on the table), there have been a myriad of ideas, excuses and fanciful dreams from all sides as to how the league, the owners and the players can collectively get richer.
One idea that I haven’t seen — until now — is intriguing, but controversial: selling ad space on player’s jerseys. And as the New York Post reported recently, more than $230 million in annual advertising revenue is up for grabs if the NFL is willing to go the way of European soccer teams, NASCAR and other leagues that have opened up the most valuable advertising real estate in sports.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this idea. Continue reading
As a sports fan, you always want to see your team make it to the championship. Just getting to the game is good for community morale as well as local businesses. For fans of the New Orleans Saints, some of this goodwill and joy has lost its luster as the NFL and some members of Louisiana are locked in an ugly PR battle over two words – Who Dat. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the phrase, it has been the rallying cry of the Saints and their fans. It was also prominently displayed in the Super Dome following their NFC championship win.
Yes, there are other two-word phrases that are much worse, so why the focus on these two? One word answer – trademark – read merchandising. Continue reading