here it is

Apr. 13‘10

Last week, at an IABC Phoenix / PRSA Phoenix / AMA Phoenix event, I had the opportunity to meet Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company’s Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. Scott communicates with nearly 40,000 people each day on Twitter alone and was kind enough to let the Mindspace PR team ask him a few questions about social media and Ford’s efforts.

Watch the video below to learn about:

  • - Scott’s career path
  • - Ford Motor Company’s Fiesta Movement campaign
  • - Statistics to use in getting social media buy-in from senior-level executives
  • - How Scott differentiates interactions across various social media channels
  • - Brands that Scott feels are doing a great job with their own social media initiatives

As Scott explains, the Ford Fiesta Movement is a social media initiative that was designed to create excitement about the company’s newest car. Now in its second phase, the Fiesta Movement consists of 20 teams with two agents each. Fiesta Movement Team Phoenix, comprised of creative talents Sunny Thaper and Austin Baker, is one of the competitive teams involved in the national campaign. I enjoyed meeting Sunny and Austin last week as well and appreciated them taking the time to share more information about their efforts for this campaign.

Watch the video below to learn about:

  • - How Fiesta Movement Phoenix is being publicized
  • - Social media channels that are proving most effective for the Phoenix market
  • - Ways you can get involved with the Fiesta Movement challenge

Let’s help Sunny and Austin win the Fiesta Movement (and possibly a brand-new Ford Fiesta) and bring the Phoenix market to the forefront of this national campaign. Text message “PhxSpots” to 44144 and sign up for e-mail updates to learn about upcoming events and ways to help Phoenix earn “points” for the challenges.

And to learn more from Scott Monty, check out his personal blog where he shares his perspectives on social media: The Social Media Marketing Blog.

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Feb. 23‘10

Have you read the Advertising Age article from February 15 titled, “My Life as H.J. Heinz: Confessions of a Real-Life Twitter Squatter” yet? If not, read it: http://bit.ly/aKwHIS [select first article listed]. Then, answer this question: What are you doing to monitor your brand across the various social media channels? Are you doing enough?

In this particular example, I find it amazing (and embarrassing) that someone outside the H.J. Heinz company created and used an @HJ_Heinz Twitter account for two whole weeks before the Twitter handle was reported and then changed to @NOThj_Heinz. The H.J. Heinz company spokesperson responded at one point stating that “as part of our regular monitoring practices, we actively monitor the social-media space, which is how we discovered the Twitter account ‘hj_heinz.’” Really?! Then why did it take you two whole weeks to discover the Twitter handle and have it changed? Even if Heinz had identified the Twitter squatter on day one (or even day two), I find it hard to believe that it would take a full two weeks to have the Twitter handle changed – especially when the person was willing to turn the account over to H.J. Heinz and explain his intentions.

In this example, the Twitter Squatter was sharing positive information about the company and its products, so what’s the problem? Well, the main issue is that the @HJ_Heinz account was the company’s only representation on Twitter for that entire time (and still is to this day) and went unnoticed by the company. What if the person had been sharing negative or inaccurate information? That could have easily been a PR nightmare! And certainly there are messages that could help boost the H.J. Heinz brand beyond just the information being picked up by the Twitter Squatter from various online sites. So what is the H.J. Heinz team waiting for, and why are they letting an “unofficial company spokesperson” continue to be the only voice on Twitter for the brand?

My simple advice:

  1. Actively monitor your brand (and that doesn’t mean performing occasional Google searches).
  2. Have a presence at the “social media cocktail party” so you are in the “room” and know what people are saying about your brand.
  3. Come to realization that you cannot control all messages being shared, but you can control messages communicated by the company.
  4. Get engaged and have a voice – Monitoring from the sidelines is not enough.

Work to build your presence in the online space and it will eliminate the possibility of Twitter Squatters controlling your brand and instead provide room for brand evangelists (hopefully) instead of “unofficial company spokespersons.”

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Feb. 16‘10

Most people who know me know that my parents are from Italy.   While I didn’t “Grow up Gotti” (remember that show?), I can certainly relate to and laugh with the FaceBook group 42 Things in the Life of an Italian Child, which outlines common and funny things that my brothers, sister, cousins and friends can relate to.  Whatever.  I’m not that offended.  I can take a joke. 

Now, I haven’t seen MTV’s Jersey Shore – partly because I refuse to watch it – but it is causing quite a stir among the Italian-American community, particularly The National Italian American Federation (NIAF).

Based on everything I hear – the tans, the clothes, the tattoos, the fighting, the partying, rinse and repeat – it sounds like a dramatic group of young adults who, together, are bound to draw some attention.  It just so happens that they are Italian, and are waving their Italian flags everywhere and busting out of their “I love Italy” shirts while causing all sorts of commotion.  For all the Italians I know in America and in Italy, I don’t know any like them.   

So the NIAF sends out emails monthly to members asking for help “to promote positive media portrayals of Italian Americans,” and has campaigned against the show through national media outlets like Fox, ABC, Newsweek, and The New York Times.  I appreciate the NIAF for valiantly defending the Italian-American name, culture, heritage and reputation, but so much time is spent campaigning against this show.

As a public relations pro, I have a tendency to look at the positives to a situation.  What about NIAF using Jersey Shore to leverage a campaign to educate America on what real life Italian-American families are like?   There is no other time more appropriate than now to launch a positive campaign.  There are many media outlets willing to listen because of the controversy caused by Jersey Shore. 

There are so many inspiring stories of immigrants coming to this country and finding their way, carving the path to success, making a name for themselves and building a legacy for their families.  What about the Italian-Americans who have contributed to entertainment, government, law and business in America?  Do the names Giada De Laurentiis, Chief Justice Antonin Scalia, Janet Napolitano or Jerry Colangelo ring any bells? 

NIAF is an influential group based in Washington, D.C. and has access to many of these Italian-Americans who they should include as part of their campaign to “promote a positive image of Italian-Americans.”  They need to act quickly on a positive publicity campaign while this story is still hot.  Then, maybe the NIAF will make the tans of the Jersey Shore group pale in comparison.

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Jun. 17‘09

As the talented and tenacious publicists across the country furiously craft and spin pitches about their companies or their clients in an attempt to gain the interest of certain journalists, the Iranian government is cracking down on its journalists in an attempt to prevent them from covering the opposition.  That means they are supposed to stay in their offices and not report from the street.  They are, however, permitted to conduct telephone interviews and monitor “official sources” such as state TV.   This isn’t good enough for a journalist, and it isn’t’ good enough for the people of Iran.    

There is a natural need for people to be informed and to share information, and it is the role of the journalist to deliver an unbiased story to the masses.  However, in Iran, the government is withholding the facts and not allowing journalists to deliver a solid, well-rounded story.

The people of Iran are on the brink of making world history with their silent protests and very vocal and visual posts to social networking sites such as Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace and YouTube.   Journalists are turning to these social networking sites in an attempt to gain important access to the images and the opinions, and to what is happening on the ground.  

YouTube’s blog states that Iran “has become a citizen-fueled news bureau of video reports filed straight from the streets of Tehran, unfiltered. Because the Iranian government is cracking down on local and international media coverage, these citizen-generated videos are providing an exclusive look at the developing violence.”

The movement in Iran is proof that news is vitally necessary to a society, and journalism is reigning through its citizens with the help of social networking.  

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