Honesty Saved the Cat? No...that's not right...

So as we all know we all missed what I am sure was a fabulous lecture on honesty, rather, the need for it in social media, especially when trying to avoid, or dealing with crisis. Many of the websites that I found online stress the importance of being honest with the public when salvaging your brands reputation. One such website is the Economic Times.

One such company that could have benefited from the use of honesty, both to its employees and to the public was HMV, a very large music juggernaut of a company. Lacking in honesty, preparation and common sense, HMV was at the heart of a "Twitter Disaster" as Iliyana's Blog refers to it. HMV, struggling in the economy, laid off 60 workers all at one time. I guess they didn't expect any backlash because they were shocked when all of the fired employees started tweeting on HMV's twitter account! HMV, instead of being honest and trying to control the situation, instead focused on how to shut down the account, rather than address the issue at at hand. I would say that the move they made wasn't the right one, this is evident by the current HMV website, which hardly even exists now!

KEEP CALM & GO WITH THE FLOW

HELLO! It's me, Meredith again! On Tuesday in class we talked about the control (or lack there of) when it comes to social media. Overall the general consensus with dealing with these crisis seemed to be comprised of three steps.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Are you catching my drift? Essentially, you can not control the media, at least not without violating the rights of your users (and trust me, they will not like that). The most that you can do is go with the flow. Just like Walmart with the Pitbull concert, or even like the Burger King situation recently. You can't reverse anything and you can't stop it, so you may as well make the most of it! If you want an update on the Burger and Jeep hacking situation, I think you will be happy to know that not only did they both come out on top, but there is another social media class this semester at another school blogging too!

I also found a great website titled Controlling the Uncontrollable where several social media experts discuss the various fraudulent issues that can occur online and their various ways to manage the social media content after a crisis has happened.You should check it out!

Thanks again for visiting my site! - Meredith Rolen

AWKWARD HUG TIME!!!!!

In class last Thursday, the positively marvelous Professor Abel taught us that it is important for social media sites to have a clear, relevant, interesting tone. Social media outlets that can engage their customers through tone are often times the most successful.

What do I mean by TONE? I mean the voice...

No! Not those voices!

I mean social media outlets should replace jargon, they shouldn’t seem like they are speaking above your level of understanding, however, they also shouldn’t dumb anything down for you. They also shouldn’t be too formal, social media should talk to you like they would a distant relative. Not too formal, but also not too informal, a happy medium.

A good metaphor for TONE in social media is the infamous:

Not to formal…..

Not to informal……

Just Right!!!!

You should speak like your audience speaks and think like your audience thinks. What do you think about the tone of my blog? I think I do a fairly good job at this, considering we are all in the same general age range. However, I do try to add a bit of comedic interest. Although, I am sure I am not as funny as I think I am! (Feel free to disagree with that one!)

While wandering the internet I found a great article that talk about  How 5 Top Brands Crafted Their Social Media Voices. The article showcased 5 different brands including Tory Burch and Kate Spade, but the one that was the most interesting to me was the DKNY website. The tone of the website is fashion girl-centric. Even though the genius behind the tone is an executive at Donna Karen global, she speaks with a young, enthusiastic voice, much like the beloved Gossip Girl from the hit series of the same name. Like Gossip Girl, DKNY PR Girl is charming, witty and fashion savvy. A voice that perfectly suits the DKNY demographic. You can view examples at her Tumblr Page.

Thanks Again for viewing my page!

- Meredith Rolen

Little Blue Pill?? Wait...No that's not right?

In class on 02/12/13 we learned about : ENDURANCE

No! Get your heads out of the gutter! Not that kind of endurance!

When it comes to social media, the first post- engagement step is endurance! This means they should be constantly and consistently be engaging the people with whom they are conversating, regardless of if they are saying negative or positive things.

They should address the GOOD!

They should address the BAD!

They should address the UGLY!

(….and everything else in between for that matter)

This takes dedication, practice, patience, and open-mindedness. And if you are smarter than the “you know who’s”  (*cough *cough Republicans *cough *cough) then you will invest in a dictionary!

But enough small talk, I found this web page that lists the Most Shining Examples of Excellent Social Media Crisis Management I thought this was relevant because even though keeping up with your social media outlet and keeping your customers engaged is difficult, it is even more difficult if your company or your customers are going through a bad time and dealing with a crisis. I thought that the above mentioned website was a good way to show the importance of ENDURING through the bad times as well as the good in social media.

Two on the list that seemed to pop out to me were the Oreo and Burger King example. The Oreo example stood out to me because we spent time on Tuesday talking about how Oreo used social media to take advantage of a golden Super Bowl opportunity, but in this article, they use it to do damage control and gain support. The issue was that they got a lot of feedback, both negative and positive about their oreo images that were stuffed with rainbow filling in honor of gay pride. They were under a lot of scrutiny, and getting a lot of bad feedback about it, they also got a lot of praise. Through social media they were able to address the concerns of and engage the customers. 

The Burger King part stood out because it's hilarious to me that an employee stood in the lettuce!

After this photo was released to the public, Burger King endured a lot of scrutiny and used social media to combat the Burger King Naysayers!

Thank you for reading my blog! Have a great day! See you in class! 

- Meredith Rolen

Seriously America, Wake-up! Vampires are REAL and REAL Dangerous!!!

Well, it’s Friday and I was cleaning my room trying to avoid the day of homework a head of me (that’s the only time I clean). In my desperate attempt to avoid doing any home work I started catching up on my “Trueblood”. A television series where throught the advent of a synthetic blood, vampires can integrate into society without killing people. This transition isn’t easy thus the story is born. So while I am folding and hanging clothes I hear something interesting in the background.

In season 4, episode 3 titled “If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin’”, there is a scene where anti-vampire radicals entrap a vampire. Said vampire was given permission to feed on a woman, but then her partners jumped out and starting filming, and she started pretending as though she hadn’t given him permission.

Stay with me. I swear it’s relevant.

The part that caught my eye and caused me to think, “Damn! Am I getting sucked into school work?” was when the anti-vampire radicals yelled into the camera

“See America! Share this video on your Facebook page and visit www.vamps-kill.com for more undercover videos and even scarier stuff. Wake up America before we are all dead”. 

All the while the Youtube logo is in the bottom corner of the raw footage within the episode of the HBO series. The scene ends with vampire Bill cutting off Youtube on his television and reprimanding the vampire for getting caught on film (which is against their laws).

This is a link to the YouTube video to which Bill was referring.

Out of curiosity, and intrigued by the relevance this could have to Thursdays (02/07/2013) class discussion. I went the website www.vamps-kill.com. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t a Trueblood television series website, but an actual site about people trying to expose vampires and fangbangers (people who sleep with vampires). Then the comments on them are not from a viewers prospective, but they are posts from people living in a world with vampires. There are even pictures that provide fake proof for fans.

Then the website leaves you to a Vamps Kill Facebook page where you can learn more about the characters, the actors who play the characters, you can voice your opinion and you can get sneak peaks, view exclusive interviews, enter into exclusive sweepstakes and leads to other Facebook Fanpages.

So in total they release videos on Youtube, they run a website, numerous Facebook Pages and they mention it on the show! Now that’s integration!

Thank you for looking at my blog! Have a FANGtastic day! – Meredith Rolen

Maybe if I Post My Picture I Will Get Remembered? Oh Yeah...And Class Tuesday!

Meredith Rolen =

 

This Past Tuesday 02/05/13 in class we discussed the Letter "C" of L.O.C.I. That letter represents the word content. When engaging consumers/ targeted people in social media it is important that your content isn't use fluff. It should have a purpose. Studies have shown that when content is Relevant, Interesting, Unique and Useful, then it is likely to be more successful.

For the blog today I found a website which features the top 10 best social media campaigns of the year 2012. Amongst the top ten there was one campaign that stood out to me as interesting/a little bit peculiar. The ad was a youtube music video released by the Melbourne Department of Transportation titled "Dumb Ways to Die"(please not that though the video is a playful cartoon, it is slightly disturbing). Though the add is comical and slightly disturbing the purpose is an admiral one, to make people more aware of ways of interacting with transportation that can end your life. The video has had over 39,360,765 views.

'I'm pretty sure that this campaign was successful as it is on the top 10 list for this past year, but I will give it a go at comparing it to what we learned on Tuesday. Is the content Relevant, Interesting, Unique and Useful? 

Relevant-  Well, the campaign is marketed toward people that are in danger of being hurt with regards to transportation, and the last verse of the song is as follows. 

"Stand on the edge of a train station platform 

Drive around the boom gates at a level crossing 
Run across the tracks between the platforms 
They may not rhyme but they’re quite possibly 

Dumbest ways to die 
Dumbest ways to die 
Dumbest ways to die 
So many dumb 
So many dumb ways to die "

I guess that does cover what they were talking about.

Interesting- Well, it is definitely interesting. If you watched it than you know that the cartoon is one of those things that you can't look away from. And the lyrics, though Juvenile are highly intriguing. 

Unique- I would say it is very unique. You never see ads like this at all, especially ads from a government agency.

Useful- Similar to the example of the Denny's campaign, I am not sure how useful it is. I searched the internet trying to find if the campaign did have it's intended effects (preventing train related deaths). I couldn't find information I was looking for. But I will assume that it must have helped because it is praised all over the internet as a genius campaign. Even if it save one life, I would say it was useful. Especially since unlike Denny's attempt to connect with a different crowd, this PSA was meant to save lives.

Thanks Again, Meredith Rolen

Houlihan's Isn't "Just There" and "That's Not Rare"

In the Thursday (01/31/2013)  lecture for our social media communications class we went over a lot of very interesting material. The emphasis on not "just being there" but as a company having reasons and objectives for being there.

Some of the things we discussed included:
- They (the company) shouldn't just be there.
- The company should have a reason to be there.
- The reason should align with company goals.
- They should have measurable objectives.
- They should listen, talk, energize, support and embrace the culture of their chosen online social medium.

An example of a company that users these techniques to engage their customers is using social media like Facebook and Foursquare. They also send out text and email coupons. I used to work for Houlihan's as a server and I know from experience and observation that they do a very good job of managing their social media outlets.

You can view how they engage their customer by viewing their Houlihan's Company Website and their Facebook Website. The previously mentioned Facebook link links to the Houlihan's in Brentwood's webpage.

The following are examples of how Houlihan’s adheres to the previously mentioned rules.

Shouldn’t Just Be there:

            They are not just there. They have a clear reason to be online and engaged in social media.

Should Have a Reason:

            Their reasons include addressing customer complaints, informing the customers about the products and services, heightening company interest and to converse with the clientele.

The Reason Should Align With Company Goals:

            All of the above mentioned reasons align with the company goals of being a profitable organization, which produces an affordable but delicious dining experience.

They Should Have Measurable Objectives:

            There are many ways that Houlihan’s can measure the success of it usage of social media. For example, they can track how many people used a coupon that was only available on Facebook to gage and get an idea of how many people are bing actively engaged by the website. Also, perhaps the Houlihan’s in Creve Cour has yet to be involved in any social media. Is there a difference between the sales and activity at the two different locations?

Listening, Talking, Energizing, Supporting, Embracing:

            The manager, Grace Deuschler, who runs the Facebook account does an excellent job of being actively engaged in the running of the website. She sends out funny jokes and is entertaining in her writing. She offers Facebook only specials and competitions. She also makes an honest effort to respond to and comment on every post made by fellow facebookers.

In the above mentioned ways, I believe that Houlihan’s does a great job adhering to the suggested rules of engaging customers in a social medium. Also, it is important to note that they have delicious white bean hummus, flatbread pizzas and flavored long island iced tea pitchers! (If you are of age of course!)

Thank you for looking at my blog. – Meredith Rolen