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Successful Rebranding — An Oxymoron?
Think about it: When was the last time within the past five years when a new logo or rebranding effort was met with resounding applause in the blogosphere? . . . Yeah, I’m still trying to think of an example, too. Continue reading
Starbucks Offers New Mayor Deal in All Retail Locations- Will it Work?
By now most major brands have realized that they need to get involved in social media, even if it’s only in a small way. A year ago, only a handful of companies were willing to put their reputation on the line and experiment with establishing a social media presence. One of these leaders was Starbucks, one of America’s favorite coffee chains.
As early as 2006, Starbucks was developing ways for consumers to interact directly with its brand online and extending the experience beyond its thousands of retail locations. In this astoundingly early year, the company signed up for its first official Twitter account, which now boasts more than 887,000 followers. In an effort to take its social media activities even further, in 2008 it developed My Starbucks Idea, which ReadWriteWeb described as “a socially driven marketplace for Starbucks-related ideas that will help the company reinvent itself”. On MSI, which also has its own Twitter account, consumers can literally share their ideas for improvement with the company, giving them a virtually unprecedented say in the direction of the brand. Continue reading
Television Advertising..Can I have a Bucket please?
I’m not sure if anyone has noticed television commercials recently, but they have become the most unrealistic and stupid commercials that just make me annoyed while watching making me change the channel. Commercials used to be fun. What happened? Why can’t commercials these days be like the Coco Puffs commercials from the 90s? You know, the one with the coo-coo bird who goes coo-coo over cocoa puffs? Unfortunately, we have lost the creativity and are now all victims to see the abominations that ad agencies come up with. Below are two examples of the nonsense we endure every night. Continue reading
The Face (or lack thereof) Behind the Tweets
I recently attended and presented at the Social Media Conference presented by the Connecticut Valley Chapter of PRSA . Among the topics discussed at the conference was who should be the voice behind corporate tweets, the company itself or a company representative?
Several attendees expressed that hectic schedules often prohibit upper management from taking on the role of tweeting for their brand. This led me to question if these should be the people tweeting or if a generic account representing the brand was adequate. Continue reading