New Social Media Platforms: Should you be (P)interested?

Seasoned social media veterans and those interested in learning about the latest and greatest social media trends are invited to attend SE Wisconsin PRSA’s presentation New Social Media Platforms: Should you be (P)interested? The luncheon will be held March 21 at 11:30 a.m. at the Pfister Hotel.

Presenters include Dennis Jenders, Vice President, Digital + Communications Strategy at Laughlin Constable, Katie Klein-Murphy, Social Media Strategist at Boelter + Lincoln, Carol Voss, PR & Marketing Director at Independence First and Tim Cigelske, Senior Communications Specialist at Marquette University.

Click here to register by March 19.

I recently caught up with Tim Cigelske for a quick question and answer session about his life and what you might expect to learn about his presentation.

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m married (to Jess) with an almost 2-year-old daughter (Clara) and a beagle (Bella). I work at Marquette where I handle the main university social media accounts. On the side I sell used T-shirts at Teecycle.org and blog about beer and running — yes, both together — at DRAFTMag.com. I’ve been running and drinking beer every day for 528 consecutive days.

What is your favorite aspect of working in social media?

The constant innovation is mind-blowing. It feels like you get the chance to be on the cutting edge of history and get to help author one of the first chapters of these technologies. But it’s not all fun and games — the challenge is then how do you harness new media to deliver your message in a creative, lasting and meaningful way.

How do you identify a new social media platform as having PR potential?

In a nutshell, it has to meet three criteria: 1) It has to show significant growth and growth potential — not just a fly-by-night platform. 2) Our audience has to be there and want us to be there. 3) It has to be doing something new or innovative. If those criteria are met, we devise a plan of how we fit in and deliver what our audience wants.

Let’s focus on Pinterest. Why should PR pros take note of this platform in particular?

Let’s start with the fact that it’s the fastest growing website in history. That’s good reason to take notice. Beyond those numbers, its ability to generate traffic back to your website at an increasing rate makes it worthwhile. How could you NOT want to help people showcase their favorite things about your brand on their Pinterest boards?

What key takeaways will attendees gather from the presentation on March 21?

I know that social media fatigue is a real thing, and people often don’t want to hear about the new new thing because they’re content with the status quo. But a little education goes a long way. Those who don’t know about the powerful next wave of social media tools are missing out on opportunities to beat their competition — or they’ll get beaten by their competition. So come and learn how Facebook, Timeline, Pinterest, Tumblr and other platforms can help your clients or businesses win.

By Bryan Michaels

Bottling lightning: How to build a winning campaign

The basic elements of winning at any sport are preparation, execution and a little bit of luck.

Turns out, those are largely the same components that go into a marketing, PR and social media campaign that capitalizes on sentiment around these successes. It’s how a brand can bottle lightning.

Bottling lightning: 1) Capturing something powerful and elusive and then being able to hold it and show it to the world. 2) Performing a rare feat. 3) A moment of creative brilliance. 

At yesterday’s PRSA Southeastern Wisconsin luncheon, Jockey and Hanson Dodge explained how a huge amount of hard work and planning, a plan to follow through and a bit of serendipity raised the profile of their brands when opportunities presented themselves.

Jockey and Tim Tebow

Jockey's website campaign

Mo Moorman, public relations director for Jockey International, shared the wild ride that was Tim Tebow-mania, who the company sponsored starting when he was a relative unknown. But that changed suddenly and dramatically.

During the Broncos quarterback’s rise to stardom and playoff run, Jockey’s numbers included:

• 700 media placements with 500 million impressions
• A Tebow ad that went viral and was covered by national media
• 14,000 new Facebook likes
• More than 100,000 views on YouTube
• A Twitter campaign that benefited from a topic that saw the most tweets-per-second in Twitter history.

Those a just a few statistics that translated to more than buzz. It resulted in 21,000 new customers opting in for marketing, the second most single-day visits to the site ever, and increase in key brand metrics, such as “Jockey is for someone like me.”

Wilson Sporting Goods

While phenomenons like Tebow don’t happen every day, some major events like the Super Bowl occur on a more predictable schedule. But they still require planning and coordination to take advantage of the buzz for the purpose of a specific brand.

Dave Racine, director of social media and PR at Hanson Dodge Creative, explained how Wilson told its story with the “More Win” campaign and behind-the-scenes mini documentaries of a small town football-making factory. This requires a more pro-active initiative than focusing on responding to a spontaneous event like Tebow-mania.

When no community exists, Racine explained, build one. And build one they did, through user-generated videos as well as media placements through the Wall Street Journal, CBS and others.

At the same time, they jumped at the chance to hitch their star to Derrick Wilson during his quest for NBA MVP. In the same way as their longer-term campaigns, media placements and community-based crowdsourcing helped raise the profile of the Wilson brand basketball.

Hanson Dodge Olympic Sponsorship

In another example at Hanson Dodge, Social Media Strategist Mike Wisniewski saw a quirky opportunity to sponsor a potential Olympic athlete with a temporary tattoo of their company on his arm. London Olympic Games hopefully Nick Symmonds was offering up the opportunity via an eBay auction.

There were many questions and unknowns — not to mention a ticking auction clock — but the agency decided to move quickly and decisively on the opportunity. As Hanson Dodge Partner and Director of Marketing Al Krueger shared, they won the auction, flew to Oregon to organized a press conference, and publicized the move via their website and social media.

To tell their larger story, Hanson Dodge positioned Symmonds on a new active lifestyle advisory board to complement their goals with all brands, beyond running. Results included their top three biggest website traffic days “by a long shot,” as well as major placements including Sports Illustrated and Runner’s World.

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One key takeaway from all three speakers is that “hard work goes hand-in-hand with opportunity.” You have to put in the hours and move quickly when an unexpected or high-caliber chance arises to move the needle. You don’t know when something similar will come along again.

How can you bottle lightning?

View the slides for the Jockey, Wilson and Symmonds presentations on Scribd.  

– By Tim Cigelske 

Tebow Time for Jockey

When Kenosha-based underwear brand Jockey signed Tim Tebow to be a brand representative, the act was seen as curious and risky.

The controversial Denver Broncos quarterback came loaded with potential … and a seemingly equal number of fans and critics.

Regardless, he was a magnet for attention and Jockey capitalized on that as one of his earliest sponsors. Through a lackluster benchwarming rookie season and half of the next, Jockey stood by its man, successfully using him to launch an innovative new collection’s campaign.

Suddenly everything changed as Tebow was named his team’s starting QB, and through some rather miraculous and thrilling late-game comebacks, began to win hearts and minds across the country and beyond.

As it appeared Tebow might, against all odds, lead his beleaguered Broncos to the Playoffs, Jockey quickly devised a plan led by PR and social media to leverage the opportunity, a plan that netted 600 million impressions in just four weeks.

Join us on Feb. 22 to learn how Jockey did it, and how you can apply tactics and lessons learned from the program to enhance your own PR and social media program. You’ll also hear about how Milwaukee agency Hanson Dodge Creative used social media & PR to promote client Wilson’s footballs.

Register here.

Meet the speakers: 

Mo Moorman – As Director of Public Relations at Jockey International, Inc., Mo Moorman probably knows more about your underwear than you do! He oversees Jockey’s external and internal communications functions, and his department’s duties include media relations, social media marketing, experiential marketing, sports marketing, reputation management, employee communications, cause marketing and brand sponsorships.

Al Krueger – As Partner/Vice President/Director of Marketing at Hanson Dodge Creative, Al is responsible for the oversight and advancement of strategic marketing of the agency. Al focuses his efforts on providing strategic insights that bring brands, such as Wilson Sporting Goods, to life online in new and exciting ways.

Dave Racine – Dave Racine is the Director of the PR + Social Media practice group at Hanson Dodge Creative. Dave is responsible for the overseeing the growth of the team and driving PR and social media strategy for the agency’s clients including Wilson Sporting Goods, Trek, Wolverine, Ragnar Relay and others.

Communicating culture change at McDonald’s

Does this look anything like a McDonald’s commercial?

Probably not. It’s not exactly the light-hearted, jingles people associate with a traditional McDonald’s ad.

In a presentation at the PRSA Southeastern Wisconsin luncheon, McDonald’s Global Communication Manager Erik Gonring explained how culture change at McDonald’s includes the importance of internal communications to align everyone on the same message. This is especially important for a worldwide brand like McDonald’s, which has restaurant owners that can act like independent agents spanning the globe.

Their new focus on a “quality ingredients from quality suppliers” campaign can be seen in a site devoted to supplier stories. As consumers want to know more about where their food comes from, McDonald’s isn’t alone in communicating this message, Gonring added.

After his presentation, we caught up with Gonring to summarize why internal communications is vital for this culture shift at McDonald’s.

Media training and spokesperson coaching are vital to a company and a brand’s success – plain and simple. No practitioner of PR ever goes into the profession thinking: “I want to clean up a bunch of messes.”  That’s why we need to be proactive when it comes to sharing our messages with the public and thinking about who we put  front and center to deliver that message. Noeleen McGrath, award-winning television news journalist, media trainer and video producer, spoke to the chapter at the Sept. 29 lunch presentation. Here are her expert tips:

The spokeperson:

• It takes 1/10 of a second to form an opinion about someone based on his/her appearance.
• Pick bold, solid colors when on camera – don’t wear clothing with patterns.
• Don’t wear big distracting accessories like jewelry or pins on your lapel.  Remember if you are seated, people only see you from the waist up.
•  Spokespeople cannot be emotional or aggressive – be calm and cool.
•  Sometimes you should pick an average Joe/Jane so people can relate to them…and they generally need to be easy on the eyes.
• Think about what kind of message might be best for the different roles within an organization. If you are delivering news about finances, have the CFO speak.
• In a crisis, you need to stick with the main likable spokesperson, even when the story gets bigger (i.e. If kids are affected, pick a mom to speak).
• There may be a dark horse at the company who ends up being a Rockstar. Get more people media trained, the CEO isn’t always the best pick.

The Message:

• Don’t lie – it will come back and bite you later.
• Pick three main messages of 4-7 second sound bites and stick with them. Repetition helps the message stick.
• Make sure your spokespeople are subject matter experts, but they must be confident (and attractiveness helps too).
• Choose your words carefully – strong words like evacuate, disaster, etc. can cause unnecessary alarm.

Learn more from Noeleen, the “media training whisperer”,  in this short video:

Noeleen now travels around the world tailoring media training, spokesperson coaching and presentation skills training programs to fit an individual’s needs and style for her own company, McGrath Communications, based in Chicago.

Aug 25, 2011 Pitching Bloggers Luncheon Recap

Pitching bloggers is an important part of public relations, and there’s a right way to do it. Three great bloggers joined us for a panel discussion to discuss their preferences, recommendations and experiences: Nick Chipman of dudefoods.com; Heather Blessington of mamavision.com; and Jon Mueller of 800CEORead.com. For a great recap of the event, read the tweets @prsawis.

Among the tips shared: Be personable (and human)! Be edgy! Be respectful (read the bloggers’ work before pitching them)! Be helpful!

Annual Summer Social Event at Barnacle Buds

Join the PRSA Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter and the Young Pros at Barnacle Buds on August 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for our annual summer social event.

Take a seat by the Milwaukee River, enjoy a cocktail and some tasty fried food while networking with your fellow PR professionals and aspiring young pros.

Appetizers will be served and the first 40 people will receive a free drink ticket.

RSVP on Facebook.

PRSA Young Pro Happy Hour: Bradford Beach

Hey PR Young Pros!

You’re not experiencing Déjà vu. We got rained out last time so let’s try it again!

The PRSA Young Pros Committee invites you to Bradford Beach on June 28, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. for a Young Pro Happy Hour.

RSVP on Facebook: http://goo.gl/4ipNo

Stick your toes in the sand, breath the fresh air, play some beach volleyball, and relax with some tunes as the sun sets on Lake Michigan, while hanging out with other like-minded professionals.

Did I mention that there will be a bonfire with live music? Bradford Beach is still finalizing the schedule but starting at 6:30 p.m., a local musician will perform until dusk. Three large bonfire pits available f

or public use. All you’ll need is your blanket on the sand.

Happy Hour Specials are available at the Tiki Hut from 5-7pm.
Specials include:
· $10 – iced buckets of Corona or Pabst (4 cans / bucket)
· $5 cocktails- Cuervo Margarita, Smirnoff & Lemonade, Bacardi Mojito, Jeremiah Weed & Lemonade
· $3 Pabst

Purchase a drink on the beach and receive a wristband good for one free drink at one of the following establishments following the musical performances on Thursday evenings:
· BelAir – BelAir Margarita
· Hi Hat Garage – Pint of the Day

Questions? Contact Andrew Wiech (Andrew@CometBranding.com)​ or Megan Sullivan (megans@bvk.com).

PRSA Young Pros offers an outlet for professional development, best practice sharing and niche networking in a social setting for young professional in the Metro-Milwaukee Area.

One more reason Google might just take over the world

Let’s face it, the internet search engine Google  (and its related products) have dramatically changed the way we do many things – especially our purchasing behaviors. At last week’s PRSA meeting, attendees learned just how much  Google is affecting our lives and behaviors. Here’s a few quick facts for you trivia-minded readers:

• Google started in 1997 with 77 million users and now has 1.9 billion users.
• There’s more content on YouTube (owned by Google) today than was made in 60 years of broadcast television.
• This awesome Google Super Bowl ad? Made for less than $10,000.
• 38% of people comparison shop online.
• Buyers read 4-7 reviews before becoming comfortable with a purchase.
• 79% of people use smart phone to help them shop.
• 1 in 3 mobile searches are local.
• Online searches for coupons exceed searches for Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

And for those of you looking for what’s new with Google, make sure to check out their new +1 feature and let us know what you think. Useful? Just another time waster? Tell us!

We asked Catherine Roe the burning question that’s  on everyone’s mind: Now that the people are so dependent on Google for information and we are opening up our private lives and shopping habits to the internet, what is Google doing about privacy concerns? See what she has to say…

Volunteer Opportunity: Rock the Green

Rock the Green is a new way to rock! We are the Midwest’s Near- Zero Waste Music Festival, a day-long concert taking place at Veteran’s Park on September 18.

What makes us different? Rock the Green will showcase revolutionary, sustainable event production practices which will include:

• Powering the festival on clean energy (solar, biodiesel)
• Replacing all disposable items with their compostable equivalents
• Running an on-site green team to manage waste recovery / recycling stations
• RtG will encourage carpooling, public transportation and bicycling to the event
• A free bike valet service will be available for event attendees
• Free fresh water stations and sponsored water bottles as opposed to plastic water bottles

We are looking for volunteers to serve as brand ambassadors to promote us at festival events throughout the summer. Are you willing to represent? Contact Kate Clough at Kate@rockthegreen.com for more details and to sign up.