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Global Branding: Ben & Jerry’s “Walks the Talk” with 2012 Election Campaign – Three Tips for Business
Marketing…By Sean Greenwood, Ben & Jerry’s Grand Poobah of PR
It’s no surprise that 2012 is an election year. While things continue to heat up between the candidates, Ben & Jerry’s has taken a firm stance on the issue of corporate influence with its newest social mission quest to Get the Dough Out of Politics. The communication endeavor is specifically about money in politics, and a corresponding consumer campaign to take action at www.GetTheDoughOut.org. With its effort, Ben & Jerry’s is shining the spotlight on how big corporate money has come to influence elections, and that the company disagrees with how officials are elected in that manner.
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Shareholder Discontent Over Executive Remuneration Builds in Europe, Report Finds
Investor Relations…Gene Marbach At Large
According to GMI Ratings, the size and frequency of substantial protest votes against remuneration in Europe, particularly in the U.K., have risen to a level never seen before, and only exceeded by shareholder activism in the U.S . In a recently-released report, GMI Ratings, an independent provider of research and ratings on environmental, social, governance and accounting-related risks affecting the performance of public companies noted that, in a movement that has been dubbed a “shareholder spring,” corporations have experienced more pay protest than at any time in the past.
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REGISTER — Google+ Hangout On Air: The Key to Proving PR Value and Building the Business Case for PR
In The Green Room With Mark Weiner
While the most straightforward measure for proving public relations success is often “meet or beat measurable objectives,” setting quantifiable objectives is one of PR’s most vexing challenges. As you move towards 2013 planning, research can help you determine what you can do to uncover efficiencies, determine optimal budget and structure your plans for success. It all begins with knowing what you want to accomplish.
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Facebook Newsfeed HyperTargeting: The Opportunity
By ZOG Digital for the Digital Visibility Channel
Facebook Newsfeed HyperTargeting is a relatively new Facebook feature (officially referred to as “Page Post Targeting Enhanced”) that enables Pages to deliver more relevant messaging to their Facebook fans. In short, Facebook Newsfeed HyperTargeting increases the targeting accuracy of posts by increasing the types of posts segments a community manager can target. Previously, pages could only deliver “one-size-fits-all” posts, or segment posts against locations or languages. The more robust segmentation criteria allows Pages to segment their posts to their audience’s newsfeed using additional criteria, including:
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NFL Referee Lockout Ends: How a Public Relations Crisis Saved the NFL Season
Bleacher Report
The NFL’s three-month old referee labor strike is finally over and this week’s Monday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers was the tipping point that pushed it over the edge. The Seattle Seahawks won Monday night’s NFL game against the Green Bay Packers by decision in an outcome the likes of which is rarely seen outside the ropes of a rigged Las Vegas prizefight.
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New VSS Forecast 2012-2016: U.S. Communications Industry Spending Increased 4.4% to $1.129 Trillion in 2011; Expected to Rise 5.2% in 2012 to Reach $1.189 Trillion
MarketWatch
Digital-Related Expenditures Represented 16.7% of Total U.S. Communications Industry Spending in 2006, 26.5% in 2011, and Will Reach 39.3% in 2016. –Industry CAGR Will Expand 5.2% to $1.455 Trillion By 2016, Nearly Twice the CAGR Increase During the Previous Five Years, Outpacing Nominal GDP Growth by 40 Basis Points –Targeted Media and Business & Professional Information & Services Sectors Expected to Exceed 7.0% Growth in Forecast Period to Reach $285.97 Billion and $267.04 Billion Respectively Spending within the U.S. Communications Industry will increase 5.2% in 2012 to reach $1.189 trillion as consumers and businesses increasingly embrace digital technology and return to spending levels not seen since before the recent worldwide economic downturn, …
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RadioShack’s epic PR win (iPhone giveaway!)
BGR
Public relations is a tough gig, and tech PR may be among the toughest due to the sheer volume of companies constantly fighting for coverage. Tech writers can get a hundred or more emails each day from PR companies hoping to get their clients publicity, so it is no easy task to concoct a pitch that draws interest. There isn’t a magic recipe for standing out in the crowd of PR flacks vying for coverage, but the best way to separate yourself from the pack and avoid wasting writers’ time and your clients’ money is often to simply pay attention. RadioShack (RSH), as it turns out, is very good at paying attention. On September 21st, the day Apple (AAPL) launched the new iPhone 5, I wrote a quick piece about where people might be able to buy a new iPhone if they hadn’t pre-ordered one…
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Tablet Owners Most Engaged for Online Ads, Report Says
TV News Check
Research by IgnitionOne finds that tablet users spend 30% more time on site and have 20% higher engagement than PC users. This engagement was even higher within the retail vertical, the digital marketing vendor says, “proving the value of reaching this audience.” The report, which includes trends across online advertising, also stated that U.S. mobile and tablet search grew to 16.3% from 14% of total search budgets and had a year-over-year (YoY) increase in spend of 167.5%. Total paid search spending grew at 17.8% YoY, representing a slight acceleration compared to the last quarter. These figures are released quarterly by IgnitionOne, which claims to manage more than $1 billion in online advertising. Key findings in the report: -Tablet users are most engaged – Compared to PC users, tablet users spent 30% more time on-site and had 20% higher Engagement Scores (proprietary user-level scoring metric).
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Does the Marketing Cloud from Salesforce.com Provide the Silver Bullet for Marketers?
Forbes
With 45,000 people in attendance, Dreamforce has become the business equivalent of an Apple product announcement. The buzz, the bands, the swarms of passionate buyers and vendors that live in the SFDC ecosystem, all came to hear the latest from the “No Software” evangelist. Last week, the firm launched the official roll-up of their recent acquisitions of Buddy Media and Radian6 into an offering called Marketing Cloud. This name and effort are clearly aimed at bringing the simplicity and productivity of Salesforce.com and its ecosystem to the marketing side of the house now that their core offering has proven itself on the sales and customer management parts of the enterprise. Per my previous posts on what marketers need to wake up to this is an important move, but …
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‘IR’ Needs ‘PR’: Investors Still Fear The Swan: State Street Survey Indicates
Barron’s
Financial crisis in the euro-zone. Slowdown in China. A global recession. Yes, investors are still chock full o’ fear. A survey by State Street Global Advisors (STT) and the Economist Intelligence Unit finds that 71 percent of institutional investors view a “significant tail risk event” as “highly likely” or “likely” over the next 12 months. The term is defined as a three standard-deviation event, or, in plain English, a disaster in the financial markets. Here’s the good news (or bad, if respondents are wrong): 73% believe they’re better prepared than before the financial crisis, due to changes in asset allocation. Here’s a look at those changes, which don’t exactly inspire confidence. From the release …
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We Can’t Afford to Ignore Half the Population
Huffington Post
Writing from New York where I have been lucky enough to attend both the UN General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative, I have been struck by the mainstreaming of issues relating to women and girls at both events. I have been fortunate enough to work with the Clinton Global Initiative team on developing the topic discussions in past years. With so much collaboration being done at such a high level, it’s crucial to craft an agenda that covers the right priorities. This is pertinent now more than ever, with 2015 looming and the next round of Millennium Development Goals being decided. We need to focus on long-term, sustainable solutions. We need to consider what will really make a positive change in the world. This year’s Clinton Global Initiative theme was ‘designing for impact’ and gender equality was prominent.
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Starbucks’ Profit-Sharing Venture Makes It an Even Better Investment
Daily Finance
Consumers are becoming more and more socially conscious, and want the goods and services they use to measure up. It doesn’t take much. A simple action that costs a company very little or nothing at all can make a real difference in the mind of the consumer — and in the company’s bottom line. Starbucks (NAS: SBUX) has repeatedly shown it can go beyond the call of duty when it comes to corporate social responsibility, but I’m particularly impressed with the company’s new profit-sharing Community Stores. Let’s have a look at this innovative program, and also take a hard look at the numbers. We’ll analyze the company in terms of its performance as a socially conscious enterprise, as a business, and as an investment.
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The 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in Canada
The Globe and Mail
Engagement, which describes employees’ passion for their work and commitment to the company’s vision, isn’t just a buzzword. Taking time to create a fully engaged workforce, where employees go above and beyond their job descriptions, can not only help boost a company’s customer relations but also the its bottom line. “Companies that focus on employee engagement tend to perform better financially, attract and retain the best talent and enjoy improved customer service and client retention,” says Razor Suleman, founder and chairman of Achievers, a company that offers social recognition and employee engagement solutions to its clients. The company recently released its third annual survey of the most engaged companies across the country.
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Twitter Promoted Trends: Taking Political Advertising to the Next Level
Huffington Post
What costs over $100,000 and lives for only a day? It must be something pretty valuable for that kind of cash — something political investors would consider essential in driving their message. The top Twitter trend of the day — the one shown at the top of the trend list on the left side of Twitter.com — can, in fact, be purchased for a $100k+, according to Twitter Director of Revenue Adam Bain. But what compels companies, organizations, and investors to hand over that kind of dough for just a 24-hour promotion? For starters, there are over 500 million Twitter users worldwide — a lot of eyeballs. Many of these users click on the promoted trend of the day just to see what the conversation is about, easily converting new readers to the subject at hand …
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When Product Placement Creates a Backlash: Kelly Osbourne’s $250,000 Manicure
Forbes
Celebrities and excess go hand in hand. Brad and Angelina jet all around the world with six kids and an entourage, Beyoncé buys Jay-Z a private jet for Father’s Day, Elizabeth Taylor ran around the world drenched in diamonds and furs. There’s always the occasional star that lives in a little country house, wears dirty overalls, and drives a tractor, but it’s pretty rare. At the Emmys on Sunday, lavender-coiffed Kelly Osbourne (daughter of Ozzy, red carpet commentator, and Fashion Police co-host) sported a Black Diamond manicure worth $250,000. I watched the red carpet and didn’t notice anything spectacularly amazing about Osbourne’s hands. There weren’t beams of light emanating from her fingernails or anything. Supposedly that polish is really something special – and some people weren’t happy about it. The diamonds came from Los Angeles-based jeweler Azature, and only one bottle of the polish has been made (there are 267 carats inside) but don’t worry. A bunch of $25 knockoff bottles are available for the little people.
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Publicity Stunt?–JWT Preps Mock Funeral for Advertising
ADWEEK
It will either be a blast or a brilliant mistake, to quote Elvis Costello. But JWT, with its mock memorial service for advertising on Monday, will at least smash the conventions of Advertising Week. Rather than lead a panel discussion or give a speech, JWT will turn the Times Center into a “church,” with officiants, eulogists, a choir and flowers. In short, the 45-minute service represents a colorful reply to the oft-repeated and hyperbolic declaration at industry conferences and in magazine articles that advertising is dead.
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