AT&T vs. Verizon

AT&T is suing Verizon for it's commercial called "There's a Map for That." AT&T believes the commercials are misleading and that customers will believe that they won't get service in the areas the service doesn't have 3G coverage. The map shows white space that indicates where AT&T doesn't have 3G service, but that doesn't mean they don't have service in those areas at all.
AT&T is asking Verizon to simply change the wording of the ad so it isn't as misleading. They don't want them to stop running the ad completely. We will have to wait and see how this case turns out!

Do Something Awards

VH1 has partnered with DoSomething.org to create an award show for young people and social change. VH1 will televise the 2010 Do Something Awards on July 27, 2010. The Do Something organization has honored young world-changers since 1996.
Five nominees will be rewarded a community grant, participation in the live tv show, media coverage, and continued support from Do Something. The winner will receive $100,000.

http://www.dosomething.org/programs/awards

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity is a scary movie made in 2007 that surprised many with its huge success and popularity with almost no advertising or publicity. The film, a movie about a couple haunted by a demon, was shown at a few festivals and then it was released in 13 college towns. It sold out in 12 of the 13 towns. The producer then put the film on eventful.com so people could vote where the film should be released next.
Because of it's success, the producer decided to release it in 20 more towns, where it sold out 33 of the showings. The producer announced he would release it in 40 markets if he got 1,000,000 requests online. He got the desired requests, and the rest is history.
Paranormal Activity grossed $107.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, making it most profitable independent film. This is with literally no advertising or publicity. This story shows how much word-0f-mouth advertising and publicity really matters and how big of an impact it can have in certain markets.

Modern Mousekateers

An article in this month's Time magazine titled "How Disney Builds Stars" talked about Disney's ability to manufacture teen talent. Superstars like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Selena Gomez all got their start from Disney.
Disney not only manufactures these stars, they have developed ways to keep them with Disney for extended periods of time, instead of branching out to other endeavors (like Hillary Duff). The current model for Disney teen stars is attractive, wholesome 14-18 year olds who can act, sing, and dance. These triple threats have helped Disney stay afloat, despite dropping theme park attendance and DVD sales.
Disney is on the forefront of promoting young stars. They start with a 30-minute sitcom, a record deal with their own Hollywood Records, and a concert tour with Disney-owned Buena Vista concerts. Add on tie-in merchandise and heavy song rotation on Radio Disney and Disney movie soundtracks, and you have a winner.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1930657,00.html

Food with Integrity

Chipotle, a popular semi-fast food Mexican restaurant, is popular not only for it's enormous burittos. It is popular for it's promise to customers that their food is fresh and not full of unnatural substances, like antibiotics. 

Chipotle's motto is "Food with Integrity." These are not just words though. Steve Ellis, the founder and CEO of Chipotle, is dedicated to keeping the products fresh, the farms and dairies sustainable, and the food tasty. The following link to their website further explains their goals and practices. 

http://www.chipotle.com/#/flash/fwi_story

The great thing about Chipotle from  PR perspective is that it lets the world know what a great job it is doing, which in turns help business. Chipotle has huge billboards advertising the fact that their chicken is antibiotic free. Printed on their cups are stories about how Chipotle is making their food safer and how they support family-run farms and dairies. 

Chipotle is an excellent example of a restaurant that doesn't keep money as their bottom line. They realize that if they maintain a good relationship with their publics, business will flourish and grow, like it has for Chipotle. 

Spit Blood TCU

I saw a link to a website called Spitbloodtcu.com. Obviously, I was intrigued so I decided to check it out. It turns out it is a blog a former TCU student about the TCU football team. It combines humor with legitimate sports knowledge. This blog appeals to fans of all levels because it's not cut and dry statistics like other sports blogs. Any TCU fans should check this blog out. 

http://www.spitbloodtcu.com/

Up-and-comers

CNN.com published an article titled "40 under 40." It contains a list of the rising stars of the business world. I found it interesting that a majority of the people honored created/owned/ran Internet web sites. The number one spot went to Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the creators of Google. Number two was Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. 

This just goes to show the growing impact of the Internet on every type of business, from social networking to volunteering to stock exchanges. Check out the list for a glimpse at the future of business. 

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0910/gallery.40_under_40.fortune/index.html

Frogs for the Cure

        TCU will be hosting it's annual Frogs for the Cure game November 14  for the TCU vs. Utah game. All money raised will go to the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research. If you buy a t-shirt through a TCU organization, you will be able to go on the field during half-time and help make a human pink ribbon on the field with the band. A video will also be shown during half-time with stories from breast cancer survivors and other facts. 

Three dollars from t-shirt sales will go to the Komen foundation. A percentage from ticket sales purchased through gofrogs.com will also go to Komen. 

TCU was the first university to do a program like this, and now other schools and even NFL teams are putting on similar events. 

Check out the Facebook group (Frogs for the Cure) or Twitter (frogs4cure) for more information and updates. 

Help be a part of the cure! 

gofrogs.com 

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's balloon boy!

     The hype about balloon boy, the six-year-old thought to have floated away in a helium balloon, has spread like wildfire. News stations, blogs, and gossip websites have covered this story for the past week, with millions of people actively following the story. The controversy continues, even though the boy, Falcon, was found in his attic. Now people are questioning the validity of the story, with some saying it was a publicity stunt for reality TV. 

Falcon's parents are now facing charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and false reporting to the authorities. Their house was raided by the police. 

This leaves the question, was it worth it for the publicity? I think not, but Americans will continue to follow the story to see what happens next. 

OMG So Superficial

      Gossip blogs have become all the rage, but I never understand the draw until my best friend introduced me to the Superficial. From the first time I browsed the gossip site, I was hooked. It isn't that I'm obsessed with staying up to date with celebrities, I just really enjoyed the blogger's writing. Yes, he posted about all the goings-on of the celebrity world, but his writing was witty and definitely not politically correct, which is refreshing. 

For those who enjoy the occasional story about Miley Cyrus or Paris Hilton, or for those who just want a good laugh, check out the Superficial. (Those easily offended beware.) 

http://www.thesuperficial.com/

Ch-ch-ch-changes (climate that is)

       The organization 350.org is taking a stand against climate change. Regardless of your position on global warning, as human beings we all know it is our responsibility to take care of our planet. 

 

        An organization called 350.org is concerned with climate change. A famous climatologist found that if we let the amount of carbon in the atmosphere grow above 350 parts per million, the Earth will return to the state it was in when life began evolving. This is not something we want. Unfortunately for us, there are already 390 carbon parts per million in the atmosphere. 350.org is holding an event to help bring awareness to this fact. 

         A small group in my PR class is helping promote 350.org's event on October 24. The organization asks people across the globe to hold events that make the number 350 visible to everyone, whether it's planting 350 trees or draping a sign with the number 350 on it. 

 

         Visit 350.org to find locations where the organization is having events, and also to learn about climate change. 

http://www.350.org/

Tweets for Eats

Pizza Hut recently announced its decision to help World Hunger Relief, a campaign supporting the United Nations World Food Program, work towards an end to hunger. Pizza Hut is pledging four meals for every Twitter follower who re-Tweets the link to Pizza Hut's World Hunger donation page.
Twitter users must simply Tweet a post containing the website link and the hashtag #pizzahut, and the company will donate four meals to those in need around the world. Over 36,000 other companies and franchised restaurants will be contributing to World Hunger Relief's mission to eliminate hunger worldwide.

http://ow.ly/qWn8
Above is the website link to Pizza Hut's World Hunger donation page.

www.fromhungertohope.com/donate
Above is a link that contains more information about World Hunger Relief.

Paid to Tweet

One of the new trends in advertising is paying a celebrity or spokesperson to Tweet or blog about a product. Some consumers are not happy about this. They think that this practice has tainted the organic, word-of-mouth social networking sites. 

     

However, what is the difference between paying Taylor Swift to Tweet about her favorite brand of boots, and paying Eva Longoria Parker to represent L'Oreal on commercials and in print ads? Attached is a story from AdAge about this new advertising practice. 

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138980

The consumers who do not support paid Tweets and blogs about products have good reason to be wary. Because money is involved, things get a little sticky. Just because a celebrity endorses a product does not mean they use it or that the product works. Many consumers look to Twitter and blogs for actual product reviews and recommendations. 

However, I understand the desire of the ad agencies to personally connect with consumers. The Internet is a great medium to connect more personally with target audiences.

"Facebook has more followers than Buddha..."

The link to this story in  Forbes tells how executive Sheryl Sandberg is helping Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg make his website profitable. Sandberg and Zuckerberg have made Facebook into the most popular social networking site (250 million members and growing), but still are not bringing in enough revenue.  

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0907/power-women-09-facebook-sheryl-sandberg.html

Zuckerberg made many attempts to earn money through advertising on Facebook. When users found out that he was basically selling user data, they were outraged at the violation of their privacy. Users signed petitions and Zuckerberg eased up on some of his data-selling practices. It was Sandberg who really helped Zuckerberg realize that Facebook needed to work on its image as a protector of its user's information. Together they began to work on helping users control who sees their information. 

As far as PR goes, Sandberg was a lifesaver for Zuckerberg who was sinking under criticism from users, privacy advocates, and investors. Obviously Facebook needs to find some way to earn revenue for the site to continue, but they must be careful not to violate their user's privacy. Facebook's popularity with a broad demographic of users makes it a huge database of information. In the article, Zuckerberg describes his idea of a "social graph", or the broad network of friends, acquaintances, and companies that surround everyone. Advertisers would pay tons of money for access to this information, but what is important is how they gain access to that information and how many privacy rights Facebook users must give up in the process.